Social media users have been sharing posts that cast doubt on whether Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi received the COVID-19 vaccine, claiming that the cap was still on her jab. Photos of the moment she received her vaccination on Reuters and Getty Images show that the needle was exposed at the end of the syringe, and what was interpreted as the cap is actually the needle hub, located just before the needle.
The posts (here , here , here , here) show photos of Pelosi receiving the vaccine, with a doctor putting a syringe with a thick, orange-colored “tip” into her left arm.
Captions include, “How do you use a syringe with the cap still on?”; “How you gonna get a shot with the cap still attached?? Come on Pelosi! Don’t trust it??”; “Pelosi got the covid vaccine. Can someone explain how effective the vaccine is if you leave the cap on the needle. You aren’t fooling no one.”; and “Did you really think any of them would actually get the vaccine?”
On Dec. 18, Pelosi received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (here) , which is initially being given to healthcare professionals and some government officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, after having been authorized on Dec. 11 (here) . In the United States, COVID-19 has killed more than 300,000 people and infected more than 17 million.
Other photos on Reuters Photos and Getty Images show that there is clearly a needle on the end of the syringe (here , here) .
The orange section of the shot, which social media users interpreted to be a cap, is placed between the needle and the syringe and does not cover the needle. Known as the needle hub, this part of the syringe allows the needle and the syringe to attach (here) .
VERDICT
False. Photos show the syringe used on Nancy Pelosi for her COVID-19 vaccine had a needle on the end.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.