A morphed screenshot of a CNN news article purported to claim that doctors are advocating injecting COVID-19 vaccines in the penis among men is doing the rounds on social media. The screenshot also mischievously uses an image of a California-based medical practitioner to support the narrative.
The edited screenshot has used the logo of CNN, a US-based media organisation along with a text that appears to be a headline: "Doctors encourage COVID-19 vaccine injections in penis". It includes an image of a doctor and a digital sketch depicting an injection in the penile area. The text in the screenshot further claims that doctors have discovered that the penis releases the vaccine fastest throughout the body and falsely credits the findings to a study by University of California.
The viral image is being circulated on Twitter with several netizens believing the screenshot to be true. Here is an archive of a tweet.
The image however appears to be created as a satire.
Archive of such a viral tweet can be seen here.
Another tweet says, ''DOCTORS ENCOURAGE COVID-19 VACCINE INJECTIONS IN PENIS FOR FAST UPTAKE.''
Archive can be seen here.
The post is also being shared on Facebook.
Archive of the post can be seen here.
Also read: No, This Is Not What Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Looks Like
India has approved two COVID-19 vaccines - Oxford-AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech's COVID vaccine Covaxin for emergency use authorisation. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) gave its approval followed by the recommendation of the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) to use both the vaccines for emergency use.
Fact Check
BOOM looked for articles by CNN on the COVID19 vaccine being administered in the penis but could not find any related to the same.
The headline in the viral screenshot has errors - COVID-19 is spelt as 'covid-19'.
Furthermore, we noticed some clear differences between the format of a CNN article and the one shared in the viral posts. The viral screenshot does not have a byline, dateline and placeline unlike the format used in the original website's articles. The text used in the viral image is centrally aligned whereas a CNN article is left aligned. A comparison between an original CNN article (left) and the viral screenshot (right) can be seen below.
Left: CNN original template; Right: Edited CNN screenshot
Additionally, BOOM ran a reverse image search on the photo of the doctor used in the viral screenshot and found the same image in a medical website Biote Medical. The website identified him as an experienced hospitalist at Claremont Medical Center in Claremont, California.
BOOM reached out to the doctor, who said, "The article is completely fake. I have not said anything about such a study. It is a work of mischief by someone."
We also found several live news meme generator apps including the CNN Breaking News meme template. However, we could not find the application or editor tool used to edit the fake story screenshot; there has been no study conducted by doctors that suggest the COVID-19 injection can be administered to male patients in the penis.
Which part of the body can the vaccine be injected?
A bulletin for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine's standing orders for administering vaccine suggests that the vaccine must be injected in the deltoid muscle of arm depending on the sex and weight of the patient. Medical authorities state that most vaccines should be given via the intramuscular route into the deltoid or the anterolateral aspect of the thigh. This optimises the spread of the vaccine throughout the body and minimises chances of any adverse reactions at the injection site. The male organ, penis is made up of spongy tissue and blood vessels. Hence, it is not the right injection site for vaccines to be administered.
Also read: Coca-Cola Tested Positive For COVID-19? Test Administered Incorrectly