CLAIM: A viral video shows police and medical workers in Australia forcibly separating a child from her parents and vaccinating her against her will.
THE FACTS: That’s not what the video shows. The incident in the video is unrelated to vaccines or COVID-19 testing, according to a statement from police in the Australian state of Victoria. The child in the video, who is clearly under the age of 12, would not be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Australia at this time.
The video of a young child being wrested from an adult man’s arms sparked all manner of false claims online this week, with social media users baselessly claiming the child was being forcibly vaccinated and referring to police as the “Australian gestapo.” Other users falsely claimed the video showed a child being separated from parents after testing positive for COVID-19.
In reality, the video shows a family incident unrelated to vaccinations or a positive COVID-19 test, according to Victoria Police.
“Victoria Police can confirm this is inaccurate,” the police tweeted in response to the video. “This vision was in no way related to Covid/vaccinations or testing. For the privacy of those involved, we will not be providing any further details.”
Police told The Associated Press in an email the incident took place at Werribee Police Station southwest of Melbourne on Aug. 14.
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1428601663435255814
https://twitter.com/VictoriaPolice/status/1428618836635312129
https://apnews.com/article/health-australia-coronavirus-pandemic-ap-fact-check-ba06a8878646c33fb1ff7635a0050b7a