A popular video circulating online appears to show a microchip reader used for pets detecting a chip in the arm of a woman who says she was vaccinated for COVID-19.
“They are literally tagging and tracking everybody taking the Jab,” someone wrote in sharing the video on Facebook.
An Instagram post of the same video says it’s a HomeAgain pet chip reader that can “read a wide range of technologies.”
But the video isn’t legitimate. It was intended as a “joke,” according to the person who created it.
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The original video was posted on TikTok on June 15 with the hashtags “#chipped” and #covidvaccinessideeffects.”
It shows a woman in a veterinary facility appearing to demonstrate how a pet microchip reader displays a chip ID when it’s held next to her vaccinated arm. When her right arm is scanned the words “no ID found” appear on the reader. But when the scanner is moved to her right arm, which she says is her vaccinated arm, the scanner registers a number — 985141003154180.
But after the video started to circulate and people began to take it seriously, the creator posted a comment to clarify, saying the video was a joke and it’s “obviously a dog chip.”
“You guys believe anything on the internet,” she said in a second comment.
We looked up the chip ID number shown in the video on petmicrochiplookup.org and found that it belongs to an unregistered HomeAgain pet microchip.
We rate this Pants on Fire!
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
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The video was intended as a "joke," according to the person who created it.
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The chip number that appears in the clip is an unregistered animal microchip.
Statement
Context
an Instagram postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
Instagram post, June 28, 2021
Facebook post, June 24, 2021
Reuters, Fact Check-TikTok intended as a joke showing pet microchip scanner taken seriously, July 1, 2021
TikTok post, June 15, 2021`
Petmicrochiplookup.org search, July 1, 2021
Translations
Language: en