What was claimed
Covid-19 has a survival rate of 99.998%.
Our verdict
While there is no completely accurate statistic, based on the sheer number of people who died from Covid-19 we know the survival rate is lower than this.
Instagram post gets it wrong about Covid-19 vaccines and animal testing
What was claimed
Covid-19 vaccines were not tested on animals before they were approved.
Our verdict
All of the vaccines approved for use in the UK were tested on animals.
An Instagram post has made misleading claims about Covid-19 survival rates and vaccine safety testing.
It states: “99.998% chance of survival But takes part in human vaccine trial where they skipped animal testing.”
Both of the claims are untrue.
Honesty in public debate matters
You can help us take action – and get our regular free email
Covid-19 survival rates
As we’ve covered many times before, the estimated Covid-19 survival rate has been estimated to be somewhere between 99-99.5%, though this has likely increased with the vaccine roll-out.
However, precise estimates are difficult to make because we don’t know the total number of people who caught Covid-19 and therefore what proportion survived.
In any case, we can say the survival rate of the disease is lower than 99.98% because 0.2% of the population have already died with Covid-19 recorded as a cause on their death certificate, as this fact check explains.
Vaccine trials
As we’ve said before the Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have all been tested on animals, as has the recently-approved Janssen vaccine.
The confusion may have arisen from reports that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were permitted to carry out human trials concurrently with animal trials.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was tested out on mice and monkeys before people. All of the vaccines required thorough assessment by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they were approved as safe for use. The MHRA continues to monitor the vaccines’ safety as well as any potential adverse effects.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the survival rate is known to be lower than 99.998% and vaccine trials did include animal testing.