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FACTCHECK: No, Japan has not approved ivermectin as a COVID treatment, and it’s still using the Moderna vaccine
Poynter ^ | 09/15/2021 | Andy Nguyen

Posted on 09/16/2021 9:16:54 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

In a 30-second video on Instagram, a woman made several inaccurate statements regarding Japan’s response to the pandemic and its use of the Moderna vaccine.

The caption: “Japan says goodbye Moderna, hello ivermectin.”

“It was just a few days ago that the Tokyo chairman of the Medical Association made the recommendation to hospitals and doctors to discontinue using Moderna, and to begin prescribing ivermectin to all COVID patients,” she says.

She cites “tremendous results” in India, Mexico, Argentina and parts of Bangladesh as proof of ivermectin’s effectiveness.

“Honestly, I’m guessing the metal contaminants they found in many of the bottles had something to do with it, too,” the woman says at the end of the video.

This take joined similar claims about Japan’s alleged switch to ivermectin on the internet. The anti-parasitic has gained popularity in recent months, especially in the U.S., as an alternative to the COVID-19 vaccines, even though U.S. health agencies have not approved ivermectin as a coronavirus treatment and have warned against its misuse.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. Instagram owns Facebooks. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

While the chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, Haruo Ozaki, has recommended the use of ivermectin on COVID-19 patients, neither he nor the organization is associated with the Japanese government.

The group is akin to the American Medical Association in the United States. It can make suggestions, but cannot enact government policies, according to its parent organization, the Japan Medical Association.

Ivermectin is not listed by the Japanese government as an approved medicine to treat COVID-19.

Moderna, on the other hand, remains an approved vaccine in Japan, along with Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

Although there have been studies into the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 patients, they’re far away from the “tremendous results” cited in the Instagram video.

PolitiFact has previously found many of the studies lacked scientific standing. The studies used small sample sizes and, in one case, had a clear conflict of interest where researchers were linked to a group that lobbied for ivermectin to be used as a treatment

While at least three men in Japan have died several days after receiving a dose of the Moderna vaccine, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has not found a link between the vaccinations and deaths.

The country’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had to recall more than 1.6 million doses of the vaccine in late August after multiple vials were found contaminated with black particles.

More than 3,700 people were vaccinated using the contaminated vials, but none have reported any health issues, according to the BBC. The three men’s vaccinations were not from the contaminated vials, and their deaths are still under investigation, the Japan Times reported.

Our ruling

An Instagram user claimed Japan has dropped its use of the Moderna vaccine in favor of using ivermectin to treat the coronavirus after two people died following their vaccinations.

The Japanese professional association that recommended ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment has no power to enact policy changes for the country.

There has also been no conclusive evidence linking the Moderna vaccine to the deaths of three Japanese men. While more than 1.6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine were recalled because of contamination issues, Japan continues to administer shots of the Moderna vaccine.

We rate the claim that Japan said “goodbye Moderna, hello ivermectin” Mostly False.

This fact check was originally published by PolitiFact, which is part of the Poynter Institute. It is republished here with permission. See the sources for this fact check here and more of their fact checks here.



TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Local News; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: covid1984; fakenews; ivermectin; japan; moderna
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1 posted on 09/16/2021 9:16:54 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: Mrs. Don-o; tellw; Huskrrrr; Jane Long; Freedom'sWorthIt; Freedom56v2; BDParrish; Phx_RC; cba123; ..

Ping for your interest


2 posted on 09/16/2021 9:17:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

“Association, Haruo Ozaki, has recommended the use of ivermectin on COVID-19 patients, neither he nor the organization is associated with the Japanese government.”

The “fact checker” does not show that any statement claimed it was associated with the Japanese government.

These “fact checkers” make stuff up and then “debunk” the made up stuff.


3 posted on 09/16/2021 9:27:26 AM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: SeekAndFind

“The Japanese professional association that recommended ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment has no power to enact policy changes for the country.”

So apparently the Japanese have proof that ivermectin is effective. Interesting.


4 posted on 09/16/2021 9:27:40 AM PDT by beef (The Chinese have a little secret—diversity is _not_ a strength.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Hmmm. So was the internet lying then, or now?

Impossible to tell anymore. I choose to believe no one but me.


5 posted on 09/16/2021 9:29:44 AM PDT by READINABLUESTATE (CENSORSHIP = VIOLENCE)
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To: SeekAndFind
Andy Nguyen is a contributor to PolitiFact based in Los Angeles. He also writes for Patch covering local and national news. Nguyen previously wrote for the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and Thousand Oaks Acorn. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in media studies.

Interesting. This fact-check puppet doesn't seem to have a Twittsewer account.

That's a tell for a Media manipulator, like KFILE and Alex Leo...

6 posted on 09/16/2021 9:31:51 AM PDT by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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To: SeekAndFind

I have gotten to the point of ignoring the word, “Fact-check”.

I have come to realize that:

FACT-CHECK = NARRATIVE ALIGNMENT


7 posted on 09/16/2021 9:33:06 AM PDT by beancounter13 (A Republic, if you can keep it.)
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To: ifinnegan
Andy Nguyen is a contributor to PolitiFact based in Los Angeles. He also writes for Patch covering local and national news. Nguyen previously wrote for the Burbank Leader, Glendale News-Press and Thousand Oaks Acorn. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in media studies.
8 posted on 09/16/2021 9:33:19 AM PDT by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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To: SeekAndFind

In our neck of the woods Ivermectin 1% is in low supply or out of stock.


9 posted on 09/16/2021 9:33:52 AM PDT by Maudeen (https://thereishopeinJesus. Our ONLY hope!)
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To: kiryandil

BA in “media studies”.

Quite a scholar.


10 posted on 09/16/2021 9:34:43 AM PDT by ifinnegan ( Democrats kill babies and harvest their organs to sell)
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To: READINABLUESTATE

I would encourage everyone to apply the scientific method themselves when it comes to Ivermectin.

You cannot do that using US sourced media and proclamations, you have to read foreign media and look at results in other countries and trends.

If you do this, I fully expect that you will conclude as many of us have that it is effective. Another tell is that our own health authorities simply ignore and dismiss data that is contrary to their assertion (vaccine only). They will not even debate it on the merits.

One might also suggest that if Biden was smart and was not in bed with big pharma he would call for an operation warp speed for monoclonal anti-bodies instead of divvying up doses based on a political map. Isn’t that telling?


11 posted on 09/16/2021 9:34:56 AM PDT by volunbeer (Find the truth and accept it - anything else is delusional)
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To: SeekAndFind
Related, from yesterday, on two different vaccines...

Floating material found in Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine vials in Japan, but company says it's not contamination

12 posted on 09/16/2021 9:36:52 AM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: kiryandil; ifinnegan

RE: He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in media studies.

Is that a bad thing?

But then when I read the words: UC Berkeley, all sorts of flashing red alerts start coming to my brain.


13 posted on 09/16/2021 9:37:37 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: kiryandil

Is that different than Journalism?


14 posted on 09/16/2021 9:40:54 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: mewzilla

Nothing to see, here....just a few CONTAMINANTS in these vials.

😱🙃


15 posted on 09/16/2021 9:41:59 AM PDT by Jane Long (America, Bless God....blessed be the Nation.)
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To: SeekAndFind

“While the chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association, Haruo Ozaki, has recommended the use of ivermectin on COVID-19 patients, neither he nor the organization is associated with the Japanese government.”

The video didn’t claim anything about the Japanese government did it? So the claims in the video were true. This article is just trying to create a strawman to knock down, since I guess they couldn’t find any inaccuracies in the actual content of the video.


16 posted on 09/16/2021 9:42:00 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: EEGator
Is that different than Journalism?

Lipstick on a pig.  winking face

17 posted on 09/16/2021 9:48:28 AM PDT by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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To: SeekAndFind
But then when I read the words: UC Berkeley, all sorts of flashing red alerts start coming to my brain.

Yes, Berzerkeley - home of the Left Coast red diaper babies.

18 posted on 09/16/2021 9:49:23 AM PDT by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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To: kiryandil

That’s what I assumed.


19 posted on 09/16/2021 9:50:01 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: SeekAndFind
Instead of looking at what Dr Haruo Ozaki said, Poytner “fact checks” Instagram and social media posts about what he said. That the head of a major medical association in Japan supports using Ivermectin to prevent and treat Covid is not newsworthy. Those working in the news media are still baffled by why half the population does not trust them when they produce stories like this.
20 posted on 09/16/2021 9:57:05 AM PDT by Widget Jr
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