Debunked: Development of Israeli plague vaccine did not coincide with Russian lab worker's death
Fact-checkers have debunked conspiracy theories linking the death of a Russian lab worker to the development of an Israeli plague vaccine. Evidence shows the vaccine has been in development for years, unrelated to the recent incident in Siberia.
Why it matters
This highlights the rapid spread of medical misinformation during health-related incidents and the importance of verifying timelines in viral social media claims.
THE DEATH OF a woman who worked at a Russian laboratory where plague is studied has led to rampant speculation and conspiracist claims online.
One of the conspiracy theories attempts to link the development of a plague vaccine by scientists in Israel to the death of the woman in Russia, implying that the two events happened suspiciously close together.
On 2 October, media reports first emerged that a woman who worked at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute in Siberia had died. Russian authorities said there was no evidence that she was infected with lab material, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has requested further information.
“They’re developing an mRNA vaccine for the plague. Coincidentally just when a plague lab leak has killed one person in Russia,” reads one post on X seen hundreds of thousands of times and shared by an account with one million followers.
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