A video accompanied by a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that Indian Soldiers fell unconscious after taking a vaccine. The post even claims that after taking the vaccine, many of them fainted while running. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of Indian Soldiers becoming unconscious after taking the vaccine.
Fact: The video has nothing to do with COVID-19 vaccination. The video was taken on 21 August 2021 in Pathankot after an endurance run was conducted at Mamun military station, where one soldier died, and more than three dozen had to be hospitalised for heat stroke. It was a Corps Level Recce Troop Competition organised by the Army where many soldiers fell unconscious because of severe weather conditions. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE
When reverse image search is done on the screenshots of the video, a tweet with the same video was found. The video was tweeted by journalist Man Aman Singh Chhina on 21 August 2021. He wrote, “Army statement on 9 Corps Recce Troop Competition: In an organised, supervised and monitored training activity near Pathankot, due to severe weather conditions, there has been one fatal casualty & few individuals admitted in MH Pathankot. Requisite medical care being provided.” However, the tweet doesn’t mention anything about vaccination.
On 21 August 2021, an endurance run was conducted at Mamun military station near Pathankot. It was a Corps Level Recce Troop Competition where one soldier died, and more than three dozen had to be hospitalised for heatstroke. Though a majority of the soldiers are on the road to recovery, one jawan died and few others are reported to be in a serious condition.
Recce troop is a section-level sub-unit in every armoured regiment and mechanised infantry battalion of the Army. The soldiers who form part of the recce troop are supposed to be among the best in the unit and capable of operating in highly adverse conditions. A recce troops competition is an inter-unit competition in which the recce troops of the respective units are pitted against each other to test their skills.
When the same claim was going viral on social media, PIB Fact Check via Twitter said that the video has nothing to do with COVID-19 vaccination. ‘During the training, the jawans had fainted due to the scorching heat and humidity.’
To sum it up, a video of Indian Soldiers becoming unconscious due to heatstroke is falsely shared with an anti-vaccine narrative.
