US Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at a vaccine mobilization event in Detroit, Michigan on July 12, 2021 ( AFP / Nicholas Kamm)

Video of Kamala Harris manipulated to include anti-vaccine message

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on November 9, 2021 at 20:06
  • 2 min read
  • By Claire SAVAGE, AFP USA
Tweets feature a video of US Vice President Kamala Harris appearing to say that almost all hospitalized Covid-19 patients are vaccinated against the disease. But the official White House footage and transcript of her remarks, as well as media coverage of the event at which she spoke, show that she said "unvaccinated," not "vaccinated."

"'Virtually everyone who is in the hospital sick with Covid-19...is vaccinated' - V.P. Kamala Harris," says a November 7, 2021 tweet with a video of the vice president appearing to say those words.

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Screenshot of a tweet taken on November 8, 2021

More tweets with the clip -- part of a trend of inaccurate information about Covid-19 vaccines spreading across the internet -- appeared here and here.

But the video has been edited to make it seem that Harris undermined her call for Americans to get the shots. There is a brief cut in the clip as she appears to say the word "vaccinated," and her actual remarks make clear that she delivered the opposite message.

"Virtually every person who is in the hospital sick with Covid-19 right now is unvaccinated," Harris said, according to White House footage that shows her at a vaccine mobilization event in Detroit, Michigan, on July 12, 2021. Both the background and her clothing match those in the altered clip.

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Screenshot of a White House video, taken on November 9, 2021

The transcript of the event on the White House website includes the same wording.

Videos seen on C-SPAN and local media also matched the White House footage and transcript.

US health authorities say that Covid-19 shots are safe and effective, and recommend that all eligible Americans get vaccinated.

AFP Fact Check has debunked other inaccurate claims about vaccines here.

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