Is it true that the WHO Director General admitted that he has not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19?

A video of a conversation between the head of the WHO and a reporter went viral on the Internet, during which Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus allegedly admitted that he had not been vaccinated against coronavirus. We have verified the authenticity of the video.

In early August, a 35-second video was circulated online in which general manager WHO answers questions about its vaccination. At the beginning of the video, the interviewer and Ghebreyesus greet each other, and then the question is asked: “When did you get your first vaccine?” On the recording, Ghebreyesus’ response is as follows: “You know, to this day I feel like I know where I belong: in a poor country called Ethiopia on a poor continent called Africa. And I wanted to wait until Africa and other countries in other regions, low-income countries, started vaccinating. In other words, I protested because we were failing." Many Internet users interpreted the words of the head of WHO as if he admitted that he did not get vaccinated at all.

For example, in the “TV channel “Stalingrad”” community on VKontakte, Ghebreyesus was called “an odious PR man for Covid-fascism” and wrote, that he “was caught by a journalist in the most vile lie: the head of WHO, it turns out, refused vaccination.” At the same time, at the end of the post, which received more than 300 likes and 120 reposts, the following paragraph was added: “The WHO is in a hurry to whitewash itself, claiming that Theodorus Ghebreyesus did not mean what he said and everyone heard perfectly well, but that he was vaccinated on May 12, 2021, and told the journalist about repeated (booster) vaccination in the first world countries, when the vaccine had not yet really reached Africa. Allegedly, Theodorus Ghebreyesus was vaccinated, but did not receive the third and further “booster shots”. Many people believe." Similar posts with videos can be found in other public pages (examples here, here And here), and on users’ personal pages (here And here).

In addition, publications that the head of WHO is not vaccinated against coronavirus have become very popular in various Telegram channels, including "Unrose-colored glasses" (136,000 views), Putin TG Team (71,000), “Who cares. Wilhelm Warkentin" (14,000) and "Biopolitics" (11,000). There are also tweets that have gone viral (here, here And here).

Ghebreyesus speaks publicly about his vaccination against COVID-19 stated back in May 2021. Then he posted a photo on his Twitter showing a doctor giving him an injection. The photo is accompanied by the following caption: “Today it was my turn to get vaccinated. University Hospital of Geneva (HUG) against #COVID19. Vaccines save lives. It is vital to get them everywhere as quickly as possible. If you, like me, live in a country where vaccines are available, please get vaccinated when it’s your turn.”

August 7, 2022, likely in response to viral video posts on the WHO's official Twitter page appeared post with the following content: “Harmful misinformation about #COVID19 is undermining all efforts to combat this virus. The pandemic is not over yet. Dr. Tedros has been fully vaccinated and revaccinated. Let's fight this pandemic together. Let's be guided by science. #VaccinesWork.” Ghebreyesus himself retweeted this message.

The clip with the words of Ghebreyesus that went viral on social networks is genuine. This is part of a full-length documentary How to Survive a Pandemic (“How to Survive a Pandemic”), released on March 29, 2022 on the HBO Max streaming service. At the end of the picture, at the 1:40:43 mark, a staff writer for Science magazine is shown John Cohen arrives at WHO headquarters in Geneva. In less than a minute, the excerpt from Ghebreyesus’ interview that is circulating on the Internet begins. However, neither in this conversation scene nor in other episodes of the film is there a word that the head of WHO was not vaccinated. On the contrary, from a conversation with Ghebreyesus it follows that he was vaccinated, since vaccination in Ethiopia started mid-March 2021.

Moreover, Cohen himself responded to the viral posts on Twitter. So, one of the users who wrote that Ghebreyesus was not vaccinated, a journalist advised delete your tweet because it is spreading lies. Also Cohen posted a link to a publication on the Science website with the words: “Read this. There's truth there." It turned out that Cohen's full interview with the head of WHO was published back on June 18, 2021, and the conversation itself took place on June 12, a few hours before Ghebreyesus’ speech at the G7 summit. According to the full text, he replied that he was vaccinated a month before the conversation, on May 12. It is noted that the interview has been edited “for brevity and clarity.” Below is our translation of part of the conversation.

— I want to ask you about your vaccination. What date did you get your first injection?
— May 12.
— You are the head of WHO. In December 2020, you might say, “I’m ready.” Why did you wait?
“I feel like I know where I belong: in a poor country called Ethiopia on the poor continent of Africa. With the privileges I have here, I probably had a chance to get the vaccine first. I don't want to use them because I want to remind myself every day that vaccinations must begin in Africa. I wanted to wait until Africa and other countries in other regions, low-income countries, started vaccinating.
I have experience as a health worker, and I am part of one of the risk groups. Around that time, vaccinations began for health care workers and at-risk groups [in Africa], so I decided it was my turn. In fact, I was waiting in line by the standards of what it was like in Africa, not in Geneva. This was my protest.
— What vaccine were you injected with?
- I didn’t even ask. [The assistant] was with me and he had to ask. But I didn't care.
— How did you feel after the vaccination?
“I still feel like we're failing.” I took the vaccine with disappointment.

Film director David France in an interview with Associated Press (AP) said: An important part of Ghebreyesus' answer was the explanation that he was waiting for the global vaccine situation to improve before getting vaccinated himself. According to France, Ghebreyesus clearly spoke in the past tense. “In the context of the film, it was the expectation and the reason for that expectation that was a major part of his answer. And that’s exactly what we included [in the film],” said the director. — The barrier to vaccines has been overcome. This is what he was waiting for." France on Twitter spoke out like this: “A couple of idiots are using this clip from How to Survive a Pandemic to launch lies about Tedros, reinforcing the vile anti-vaxxer and anti-WHO message. He got vaccinated at a public event for the whole world to see! But it still goes viral.”

In conclusion, here are Cohen's words from the AP interview. Journalist named “Extremely absurd” are the claims that the film showed that Ghebreyesus had not been vaccinated and was against vaccinations. “I don’t think anyone who actually watched the documentary could come to the conclusion that they were creating with this excerpt,” Cohen said. “To come to the conclusion that Ghebreyesus is against vaccines, a person must have a certain attitude.”

Cover photo: screenshot from trailer film How to Survive a Pandemic

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

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