Fact check: No, anaesthetics won't kill vaccinated people; false claim causing panic [truth here]

Just as India is fighting the bigger fight against COVID-19 pandemic and pushing everyone to get vaccinated at the earliest, there are some factions throwing obstacles. Due to misinformation around vaccines, there's hesitancy in people. Despite efforts to create awareness on vaccines, people are falling for baseless information being shared by the means of social media and WhatsApp groups. Yet another claim in circulation is that anaesthetics can kill vaccinated people.

The claim

A social media post is circulating, which claims that anaesthetics can be life-threatening for vaccinated people. Without providing any scientific backing, the message titled "Vaccination Warning" says vaccinated people must wait for a month to undergo surgery that require administering anaesthesia.

The message claims, "Anyone who has been vaccinated against coronavirus is prohibited from taking any type of anaesthetics or dentist's anaesthetics because this poses a great danger to the life of a vaccinated person."

While asking vaccinated people to wait for a month, it warns that undergoing surgeries within a month of vaccination can even cause death.

Many people have shared this message on Facebook, Twitter as well as within WhatsApp groups, which only adds to the panic.

Fact check

International Business Times reviewed the claim and found no scientific evidence to support it. A government's PIB fact check team was quick enough to issue a straightforward statement, debunking the bogus claim.

"A post claiming that anaesthetics can be life-threatening for #COVID19 vaccinated people is doing the rounds on social media. This claim is #FAKE," the PIB fact Check said on Twitter.

General anaesthesia is used to induce unconsciousness during surgery. The medical purpose of inducing anaesthesia is to prevent pain during medical procedures by numbing a specific part of the body, and its effects are short-lived. With regards to the viral claim, no vaccine manufacturer has issued any such caution or warning. In fact, health experts say vaccination should not be an impediment for urgent surgery.

"There is no scientific evidence to validate the unfounded misinformation involving Covid vaccine and anaesthetics," Dr Samiran Panda, head of the epidemiology and communicable diseases division at ICMR, was quoted as saying by India Today.

Based on all the scientific evidence, IBTimes has arrived at the conclusion that the claim warning vaccinated people against the use of anaesthetics is misleading and baseless.