A July 19 Twitter post (direct link, file link) a short clip of a collapsed commercial construction broken by a storm.
“BREAKING NEWS: A Pfizer warehouse full of covid vaccines has been DESTROYED BY A TORNADO in North Carolina,” the post reads.
The post was retweeted 17,000 times in two days and shared more than 600 times on Facebook, according to CrowdTangle, a social media analytics tool. Similar posts were also shared on Facebook.
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Pfizer’s Rocky Mount facility in North Carolina was badly damaged in a recent tornado. However, the COVID-19 vaccine was never manufactured or stored on-site.
A tornado swept through about 16 miles of North Carolina on July 19, severely damaging Pfizer’s Rocky Mount production facility, as USA TODAY reported in the past.
In a series of tweets, Pfizer showed the facility, located about 60 miles east of Raleigh, traversed the tornado and said staff at the scene were able to evacuate safely.
“We are evaluating the scenario to determine the impact on production,” the company’s tweets read. “Our mind is with our colleagues, patients and the network as we rebuild from this climate incident. “
But a Pfizer spokesperson refuted the publication’s claim that the facility had COVID-19 vaccines.
“I can verify that no COVID-19 or Paxlovid vaccine has been affected or damaged,” Keanna Ghazvini, the company’s director of media relations, told USA TODAY.
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A fact sheet from the facility through Pfizer says it is “one of the largest sterile injectable production sites in the world,” aimed at producing terminally sterilized vials, aseptic vials, ampoules and “various other hospital products. “
The company also lists “anesthesia, analgesia, therapeutics, anti-infectives and neuromuscular blockers” among the products manufactured at the facility.
The EF3 tornado also caused damage elsewhere, with winds reaching about 150 mph, according to the National Weather Service. No deaths were reported, but the typhoon injured 16 people.
The Twitter user can only be contacted for comment.
Lead Stories debunked the claim.
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