Covid-19
(FILES) In this file photo taken on September 11, 2020 Laboratory technicians handle capped vials as part of filling and packaging tests for the large-scale production and supply of the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AZD1222, conducted on a high-performance aseptic vial filling line at the Italian biologics’ manufacturing facility of multinational corporation Catalent in Anagni, southeast of Rome. - The clinical trial for the Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Britain's University of Oxford has resumed in the United States, the drugmaker said October 23.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today authorised the restart in the US, following the resumption of trials in other countries in recent weeks, AstraZeneca said in a statement. (AFP / Vincenzo Pinto)

Hoax advert for Covid-19 vaccine clinical trials circulates across social media platforms in South Korea

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An image purporting to show a recruitment advertisement by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Korea for participants in a paid Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial has been shared multiple times on various social media platforms in South Korea. However, this claim is false: AstraZeneca Korea published a statement denying the claims, and South Korea’s National Institute of Health told AFP that AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines have not been approved for clinical testing in the country. 

 

The image was shared here on a public Facebook group with more than 98,000 members on October 28, 2020.

Part of the Korean-language text in the image translates to English as: “Notice of recruitment for clinical tests of Covid-19 vaccine.

“AstraZeneca is looking for participants for clinical testing… All expenses will be covered, including treatment, check-ups and other medical fees. Each participant will receive 10 million South Korean won (USD 8,850) after trials are completed.

“Please email your application to covid19.trial@astrageneca.com.”

The image carries the logo of AstraZeneca, a British and Swedish pharmaceutical company that also has a branch in South Korea, which operates as AstraZeneca Korea.

The company is currently working with the UK’s University of Oxford to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.

Its AstraZeneca Oxford coronavirus vaccine or AZD1222 vaccine is widely regarded as one of the world's most advanced experimental Covid-19 vaccines in development, with trials underway in the US, Britain, South Africa, Brazil and Japan, according to this AFP report.

The image was also shared here and here on Facebook; here and here on Twitter; here on Naver, alongside similar claims.

However, the claim is false.

AstraZeneca Korea published this statement on October 28, 2020 denying the claim.

A screenshot of AstraZeneca’s statement published on October 28, 2020 

It reads: “There are false posts circulating online and via mobile [messaging] that we are recruiting applications for Covid-19 clinical trials.

“This is not true, and has been distributed by unknown sources. We have not made such an announcement. (The email address in circulation is also incorrect, spelled AstraGeneca, and not AstraZeneca.)

“We are currently not recruiting applicants for Covid-19 clinical trials in Korea, and no decisions have been made on future plans [to do so]”.

In response to the misleading claims, Jeong Gyeong-tae, head of the Vaccine Research Department at South Korea’s National Institute of Health told AFP during a phone conversation on October 29, 2020: “South Korea has not approved any clinical tests for AstraZeneca vaccines in the country.”

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