logo
Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Brief Publisher Logo
FACT BRIEF

Is the Australian military being trained to force-vaccinate people against COVID-19 in door-to-door attacks?

By Alexis Tereszcuk
Copy link
email
Copy featured image
email
NO

An online article claiming the Australian military is training to force-vaccinate people is "misinformation and completely false," a spokesperson for the Australian Government Department of Defence told Lead Stories. In addition, there's no publicly available evidence corroborating the claim.

The article includes a video in which an unidentified man cites unnamed soldiers as telling him of the purported training. He says the soldiers told him they were "practicing running into the bush and capturing those people who are running away" from a forced vaccination.

The spokesperson for the Australian military flatly denied the claim in an email to Lead Stories.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) previously assisted in administering the COVID-19 vaccine in elder and disability-care sectors, as Reuters reported in March 2021, but they did not go door-to-door forcing people to take a COVID-19 vaccine.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Department Of Defence (Australia) Operation COVID-19 Assist
Reuters Australia armed forces called in to support COVID-19 immunization drive
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
FACT BRIEF BY
Brief Publisher Logo
Latest fact briefs
facebook
twitter
email
email
About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.