No, a fence in a shopping mall wasn't used to segregate vaccinated and unvaccinated people; photo was taken in Romania, not Germany

CLAIM

“In Germany, a fence separates vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The biggest symptom of COVID is insanity”

SOURCE: Young Americans for Liberty, Facebook, 7 Dec. 2021

DETAILS

Factually inaccurate: The photo was taken in Romania, not in Germany. The fence wasn’t used to segregate vaccinated and unvaccinated shoppers, but to prevent shoppers without a health pass from accessing other shops apart from those that sell necessities, like the supermarket. Not all shoppers with a health pass are vaccinated, as the health pass can also be issued to people who test negative for COVID-19 or who have recovered from COVID-19.

KEY TAKE AWAY

Viral social media posts claimed that a photo of a fence in a shopping mall being used to separate vaccinated and unvaccinated shoppers was taken in Germany. This is inaccurate, as the photo was taken in Romania. The fence was used to prevent shoppers without a health pass from accessing non-essential businesses. A health pass is issued to people who have been vaccinated against, tested, or recovered from COVID-19. Consequently, not all who hold a health pass are necessarily vaccinated, as some social media users assumed.

FULL CLAIM: “In Germany, a fence separates vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The biggest symptom of COVID is insanity”

REVIEW

A Facebook post published by the political activist group Young Americans for Liberty claimed that a photo showed a fence being used to separate vaccinated and unvaccinated shoppers in Germany. That post received more than 4,600 engagements from users. Other social media users also made the same claim, like this tweet that received more than 12,000 engagements, including more than 3,000 retweets.

However, both posts are partly inaccurate. The photo wasn’t taken in Germany but in Romania, as these Facebook posts show (see here and here). And Romanian media also covered this incident (see here and here), as reported by German fact-checking organization Correctiv.

As part of the European Union, Romania employs the EU Digital COVID Certificates, a form of health pass or certificate that serves as proof that a person has been vaccinated against, tested, or recovered from COVID-19. As the website for the U.S. Embassy in Romania states, this pass has been mandatory for accessing shopping centers since October 2021, although exceptions are made for essential services like supermarkets and pharmacies. The fence was put up in order to prevent shoppers without a “green certificate” from accessing non-essential businesses.

It’s important to note that a “green certificate” can be held by unvaccinated people as well, since it is also issued to people if they test negative for infection or have recovered from COVID-19. Therefore, the claim that the fence is being used to segregate vaccinated and unvaccinated shoppers is inaccurate.