A social media post claims that the U.S. government signed an agreement with Moderna about COVID-19 vaccines shortly before the pandemic. The post includes a video of a political commentator falsely claiming that the NIH has joint ownership of the Moderna vaccine and helped orchestrate the pandemic for profit.
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Emphasizing that the claims in the video are false and based on a misrepresentation of the facts is recommended. The video originally circulated and was debunked in December. The allegations in the video are based on a 2019 agreement between Moderna and the NIH to develop a vaccine for MERS, a coronavirus that is related to but genetically distinct from the virus that causes COVID-19. Prior to 2019, coronaviruses had caused multiple serious outbreaks, including the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak and the 2012 MERS outbreak. No U.S. government agency has ownership of any COVID-19 vaccines. Fact Checking Source(s):
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