FALSE: Table shows when COVID-19 variations will be released

At a glance

• Claim: A table shows when COVID-19 variations are planned to be released.
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: No credible source posted this table, which also has inaccurate details.
• Why we fact-checked this: This claim was flagged by Facebook’s Claim Check, a tool that monitors dubious content on the platform.

Complete details

A post shows a table that supposedly outlines when variants will be “launched” or “released.” It shows two columns labeled “cepa/variante (variant)” and “lanzamiento (launch or release).” 

Facebook’s Claim Check, a tool that monitors dubious posts on the platform, flagged a post that contained this graphic. Other posts containing this claim were found on Facebook.

This claim is false.

No credible source posted this table, which also has inaccurate details.

According to the table of currently designated Variants of Concern posted by the World Health Organization (WHO), the earliest samples of the Delta variant were documented in October 2020, not in June 2021 as indicated in the table. 

Meanwhile, the earliest documented samples of the Omicron variant were in November 2021, way before May 2022 as stated in the table. 

Variants of Interest were also logged inaccurately on the table. The Lambda variant was recorded as early as December 2020, while the Mu variant was documented in January 2021. These were both listed on the table as supposedly to be released in 2022.

Multiple other fact-checking organizations, including Full Fact, Check Your Fact, and The Quint, have also debunked this claim.

On December 31, the Department of Health said there is a “high possibility” of local transmission of the Omicron variant in the Philippines. – Loreben Tuquero/Rappler.com

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