A post on Facebook with more than two thousand shares shows a photo of a vaccine used on cattle. The post falsely implies that the coronavirus infecting humans has been known about for years.
The post states, “Just in case you are wondering how much the media controls people, America has been vaccinating cattle for coronavirus for years,” the posts read, “yet the news tells you it’s new and gunna kill you all so go buy mask….”
USA Today reports the claim is false for multiple reasons.
Coronavirus is a generic term for a large group of viruses, not a specific strain, in both humans and animals. The vaccine pictured in the Facebook post is a vaccine for pregnant cows and heifers to prevent diarrhea in their calves caused by bovine coronavirus.
The novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, was first reported in 2019. It began in Wuhan, China, and has now infected more than 90,000 people to date with over 3,000 deaths.