EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has apologized for not properly challenging the views of a vaccine skeptic, who claimed that COVID jabs cause heart damage during an interview on BBC News.
In a statement on Thursday, the UK broadcaster said it should have been better prepared for a live exchange with Dr Aseem Malhotra given his history of promoting vaccine hesitancy.
The interview took place on the BBC News channel last Friday, when Malhotra hijacked a conversation about cholesterol medication to claim that coronavirus vaccines “carry a cardiovascular risk.” He was virtually unchallenged by presenter Lukwesa Burak, who simply asked: “That’s been proven medically, has it?” Malhotra replied that there is “lots of data” to support his claim, before calling for the suspension of the vaccine rollout.
The reality is that Malhotra’s research has been debunked by Health Feedback, a World Health Organization-backed group that verifies scientific claims made about vaccine safety in the media.
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