A PCR test performed by a nurse in Jammu & Kashmir, India on May 21, 2021 (Illustration) – INA Photo Agency // SIPA
- According to a publication repeated many times on Twitter, a press release from the Indian Ministry of Information proves that the B.1.617 variant, commonly known as the Indian variant, does not exist.
- In this press release, the Indian government opposes the term “Indian variant”, but does not deny the existence of the variant in itself, contrary to what the Twitter post claims.
- A maneuver more political than scientific, which actually allows the government to lessen its responsibility in the dissemination of the said variant.
It overwhelms India and preoccupies the medical world. The B.1.617 variant of Covid-19, commonly known as the “Indian variant”, was classified as of concern at the beginning of May by the WHO. However, in the parallel reality that is Twitter, it would only be a vulgar invention.
🚨🚨🚨🚨#France everything is manipulation
the #Veran Indian 🇮🇳 is a Fake News created by the Western media in order to generate fear in fragile minds and incite the population to #VaccinationCovid #vaccination with the #Vaccine #Pfizer #AstraZeneca #modern pic.twitter.com/WW8Ja0TSHZ– The Stick Wing (@ aileastick1) May 28, 2021
” The [variant] Indian is fake news created by the Western media in order to generate fear in fragile minds and encourage the population to do the covid vaccination ”writes this Internet user. As proof, he highlights a press release from the Indian Ministry of Information for social media platforms. In the latter, the government refutes the scientific accuracy of the term “Indian variant” and requests the deletion of content mentioning it. This would be, according to our Internet user, the key to manipulation.
20 minutes takes stock of this Indian political maneuver which in no way denies the existence and the dangerousness of this “Indian” variant B.1.617.
FAKE OFF
In India, the central government has asked the various social media platforms present in its territory to no longer mention the term “Indian variant” and recommends deleting content referring to it, RFI reports in an article published on May 23.
In one press release dated May 21, the Indian Ministry of Information wrote that it was “completely false” to say that an “Indian variant” would circulate around the world. As an argument, the ministry indicates that the World Health Organization mentions the variants by their scientific name: “The WHO has not associated the term” Indian variant “with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports”. It is thus very clear that India does not refute the existence of this variant, but its common name.
This advice to social media platforms, writes RFI, is actually more political than scientific. The government has never prevented its population from talking about Chinese viruses, British, Brazilian or South African strains. Pointed out for its laxity in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic by the population and neighboring countries, the objective of the Indian government seems clear: to reduce, by excluding the term “Indian variant” from the popular vocabulary, its responsibility in its proliferation across the world.