Complaint
A listener complained that an interview with Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland’s Science and Innovation Correspondent had given the incorrect impression that two vaccine shots would confer 100% immunity to Covid. The ECU considered the complaint in relation to the Â鶹ԼÅÄ’s editorial standards of due accuracy.
Outcome
On two occasions the correspondent referred to full immunity in connection with two doses of vaccine. In fact no available vaccine claims to confer 100% immunity after a second dose (the Pfizer BioNtech and AstraZeneca offering 95% and 82% respectively). While there are contexts in which the phrase “full immunityâ€Â might be defended as shorthand for the full measure of protection which vaccination can provide, it fell short of due accuracy in the context of an interview in a news programme with a specialist correspondent on an issue of public health (as Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland had acknowledged in correspondence with the complainant).
Upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to Â鶹ԼÅÄ Scotland's Executive Team and discussed with the programme-makers concerned.