Fact Checking the Arab Media

On December 19, 2021, the US Embassy in Lebanon announced that, “Today, through the COVAX program, the United States delivered a donation of 336,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine to Lebanon to support the continued fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As a single dose vaccine, this J&J donation can fully inoculate 336,000 Lebanese against COVID-19.”

Almost immediately, some social media users as well as a number of prominent journalists in Lebanon who regularly oppose US policy in the country criticized the donation by using the hashtag #AmericanDeathVaccine.

As one example, @layalmnsr, who has more than 4,400 Twitter followers, wrote: “As if the death and destruction of the Lebanese over the decades by the American weapon used by the Israeli enemy, as well as the wars and strife raised by Washington in the region, as well as the siege, sanctions and starvation policies are not enough for them, as if all of that is not enough, for them to bring them the ominous ambassador of death in the form of a vaccine.” She ended with the hashtag - #لقاح_الموت_الأميركي - #AmericanDeathVaccine.”

As a result of these concerns however, according to one Yale Medicine report, while the risk for a rare blood clot is low, anyone who gets the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “should know about early symptoms of the disorder. The CDC recommends seeking immediate medical care if you develop any of the following symptoms after getting the shot, especially if you are a woman aged 50 or younger: Severe or persistent headaches or blurred vision; Shortness of breath; Chest pain; Leg swelling; Persistent abdominal pain; Easy bruising or tiny blood spots under the skin beyond the injection site.”

Furthermore, at the same time as the US Embassy in Lebanon was donating the J&J COVID vaccines, the CDC announced that it was endorsing its advisory committee’s “unanimous decision to give a preferential recommendation to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines” over the J&J shot. Not surprisingly, this news was jumped on by some Lebanese media outlets, such as Al-Mayadeen, who tried to turn the “preferential” determination by the CDC into something far more ominous: “The US Embassy in Lebanon announces donating more than 300,000 vaccines to Lebanon, despite recommending against it at home.”

Despite the flood of similar exaggerations, one can certainly say with high confidence (as Lebanon’s government has determined in approving its use) that the J&J vaccine does, in rare cases, have serious and potentially fatal side effects but that its benefits far outweigh these extremely limited risks. And even though the US itself considers the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to be more effective and safer, the J&J vaccine has been - and continues to be - used widely and effectively in the US. Far from being a “death” donation then, the 336,000 J&J doses will unambiguously save Lebanese lives.