Various false theories have spread in different parts of the world regarding the
COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 and variant related claims Prevalent COVID-19 skepticism Prior to the vaccine launch many citizens expressed skepticism that COVID-19 was a serious disease or that their countries had cases or high number of cases of the disease during 2020 and 2021. This prior skepticism that was pushed by the late
President of Tanzania,
John Pombe Magufuli is seen as a leading reason for vaccine hesitancy within the country. Magufuli declared
Tanzania COVID-19 free in mid-2020 and pushed herbal remedies, praying and steam inhalation as remedies to COVID-19. Also in mid-2020, a
hoax spread on social media claiming that
World Bank documents showed they had been planning pandemic measures since 2017 or 2018, even though the documents did not mention
COVID-19 until they were updated after the
pandemic began.
Delta variant and vaccines As the
delta variant of COVID-19 began to spread globally, disinformation campaigns seized on the idea that COVID-19 vaccines had caused the delta variant, despite the fact that the vaccines cannot replicate the virus. A French virologist likewise falsely claimed that antibodies from vaccines had created and strengthened COVID-19 variants through a previously debunked theory of
Antibody-dependent enhancement. A related debunked theory, out of India, claimed that COVID-19 vaccines were lowering people's ability to withstand new variants instead of boosting immunity. The website
Natural News published an article in July 2021 claiming that CDC director
Rochelle Walensky admitted that COVID-19 vaccines do not protect against the delta variant and that vaccinated people could be
superspreaders due to having a higher
viral load. Walensky actually said in a press briefing that vaccinated and unvaccinated people could have "similarly high" viral loads when infected with the delta variant, but did not say that vaccinated people had a higher viral loads or were "super-spreaders". She also stated that the vaccine "continues to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death", even against the delta variant. A July 2021 study in the
New England Journal of Medicine reported that the
Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was 88 percent effective in preventing symptomatic infections caused by the delta variant.
Organized crime Fake vaccines In July 2021, Indian police arrested 14 people for administering doses of fake
salt water vaccines instead of the
Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at nearly a dozen private vaccination sites in
Mumbai. The organizers, including medical professionals, charged between $10 and $17 for each dose, and more than 2,600 people paid to receive the vaccine.
Interpol issued a global alert in December 2020 to law enforcement agencies in its member countries to be on the lookout for organized crime networks targeting COVID-19 vaccines, physically and online. The
WHO also released a warning in March 2021 after many ministries of health and regulatory agencies received suspicious offers to supply vaccines. They also noted that some doses of the vaccines were being offered on the dark web priced between $500 and $750, but there was no way to verify the distribution pipeline.
Fake vaccination cards In the United States, there was a surge of individuals either looking to purchase fake vaccination cards, alter medical records to show vaccination, or create fake vaccination cards to sell. In Hawaii a vacationer was arrested after it was discovered she had a fake vaccination card, a California doctor was arrested for falsifying patients' vaccination records, and three state troopers in Vermont were arrested for helping create false cards. In August 2021
US Customs and Border Prevention agents seized 121 packages with more than 3,000 fake vaccination cards that had been shipped from
Shenzhen to be distributed in the US.
Check Point research released in August 2021 showed that fake vaccination cards were being sold via messaging apps and priced between $100 and $120 a card. Interpol announced that they were seeing a direct correlation between countries requiring negative COVID-19 tests to enter the country and the increased number of provided fake vaccination cards. Recurrent claims, based on misinterpretation of statistical data, have been made regarding the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. A frequent fallacy consisted in concluding on the ineffectiveness (or low effectiveness) of vaccines after noticing the apparently high proportion of vaccinated patients among COVID-19-related hospitalisations and deaths, without taking into account the high proportion of vaccinated people among the general population, thus committing the
base rate fallacy; or without taking into account the tendency of people at higher risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19 to be vaccinated in priority, thus ignoring the
Yule–Simpson effect. In the United Kingdom, a report from the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M), published in March 2021, predicted that 60% of hospitalisations and 70% of deaths would be among people who had received two doses of the vaccine, despite the latter remaining highly effective. The report stated: "This (modelling) is
not the result of vaccines being ineffective, merely uptake being so high". Multiple studies have confirmed the effectiveness of a booster dose given on top of the two normal doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. There is evidence that those who have received a boosted dose experience reduced severity of infection, in addition to reduced likelihood of developing COVID-19 to begin with. On 17 January 2023,
Ron DeSantis claimed, "Almost every study now has said with these new boosters, you're more likely to get infected with the bivalent booster," but
PolitiFact rated that claim False, noting that, on the contrary, a "study found that the bivalent booster is 30% effective in preventing infection from the virus."
mRNA vaccines are not vaccines Financial analyst and self-help entrepreneur David Martin claimed that
mRNA vaccines do not fit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) definitions of a vaccine because they do not prevent
transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. While research has been ongoing to evaluate the
effect of vaccination on SARS-CoV 2 transmission, neither the CDC nor the FDA stipulate that vaccines must stop transmission of a virus, both stating that a vaccine is a product that stimulates the immune system to produce immunity to an infectious agent.
Altering human DNA The use of mRNA-based vaccines for COVID-19 has been the basis of misinformation circulated in social media, wrongly claiming that the use of RNA somehow alters a person's DNA. The DNA alteration conspiracy theory was cited by a Wisconsin hospital pharmacist who
deliberately removed 57 vaccine vials from cold storage in December 2020 and was subsequently charged with felony reckless endangerment and criminal damage to property by
Ozaukee County prosecutors. mRNA in the
cytosol is very rapidly degraded before it would have time to gain entry into the cell nucleus (mRNA vaccines must be stored at very low temperature to prevent mRNA degradation).
Retrovirus can be single-stranded RNA (just as
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is single-stranded RNA) which enters the cell nucleus and uses
reverse transcriptase to make DNA from the RNA in the cell nucleus. A retrovirus has mechanisms to be imported into the nucleus, but other mRNA lack these mechanisms. Once inside the nucleus, creation of DNA from RNA cannot occur without a
primer, which accompanies a retrovirus, but which would not exist for other mRNA if placed in the nucleus. Thus, mRNA vaccines cannot alter DNA because they cannot enter the nucleus, and because they have no primer to activate reverse transcriptase. Because of misinformation suggesting that COVID-19 might alter DNA, some academics insisted that mRNA vaccines were not a "gene therapy" to prevent the spread of this misinformation, but others said that mRNA vaccines were a gene therapy because they introduce genetic material into cells.
Reproductive health In a December 2020 petition to the
European Medicines Agency, German physician
Wolfgang Wodarg and British researcher
Michael Yeadon suggested, without evidence, that
mRNA vaccines could cause
infertility in women by targeting the
syncytin-1 protein necessary for placenta formation. Their petition to halt vaccine trials soon began circulating on social media. A survey of young women in the United Kingdom later found that more than a quarter would refuse COVID-19 vaccines out of concerns for their effects on fertility. A study in
Andrologia found that Google searches relating to a supposed link between vaccination against COVID-19 and adverse effects on fertility increased following the
Emergency Use Authorization of COVID vaccines in the United States, indicating that concerns about alleged impacts on fertility are a major contributor to vaccine hesitancy. Syncytin-1 and the
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein targeted by the vaccines are largely dissimilar, sharing a sequence of only four
amino acids out of several hundred. A study conducted on 44 rats injected with the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at doses over 300 times the human dose by body weight and 44 rats injected with placebo found no statistically significant evidence of any adverse effects on the fertility of female rats or on the health of the offspring of rats (the 3% lower pregnancy rate found in the vaccine group was not statistically significant).
David Gorski wrote on
Science-Based Medicine that Wodarg and Yeadon were "stoking real fear [...] based on speculative nonsense". Other businesses refused to serve vaccinated customers, citing concerns that vaccinated people could shed the virus. Some promoters of this claim have recommended the use of face masks and social distancing to protect themselves from those who have been vaccinated. Gynecologist and medical columnist
Jen Gunter stated none of the vaccines currently approved in the United States "can possibly affect a person who has not been vaccinated, and this includes their menstruation, fertility, and pregnancy".
Risk of diseases Bell's palsy In late 2020, claims circulated on social media that the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine caused
Bell's palsy in trial participants. Several pictures which had originally been published prior to 2020 accompanied these posts, and were falsely labeled as these participants. During the trial, four of the 22,000 trial participants indeed developed Bell's palsy. The FDA observed that the "frequency of reported Bell's palsy in the vaccine group is consistent with the expected background rate in the general population". Debate is still ongoing about whether or not there is a causal link between any of the major COVID-19 vaccines and Bell's palsy. However, experts agree that even if an association exists, it occurs extremely rarely and the effect is small (~10 cases per 100,000 vs 3-7 cases per 100,000 in a typical pre-pandemic year). Bell's palsy is usually temporary and known to occur following many vaccines.
Blood clots Videos posted to
Facebook and
Instagram have claimed without evidence that 62 percent of people given an mRNA vaccine develop
blood clots, and that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine causes blood to clot "in a minute or two". Studies have found possible causal links between the AstraZeneca and
Janssen COVID-19 vaccines and a rare clotting disorder known as
thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), but the risk is low for most people, with 47 confirmed reports of the condition out of more than 15 million recipients of the Janssen vaccine in the United States . A 2021 study published in the
British Medical Journal suggested that SARS-CoV-2 infection is approximately 200 times more likely to cause blood clots in patients than the AstraZeneca vaccine. Other population-level studies have demonstrated similar, that the risk of blood clots from COVID-19 is higher than from vaccines.
Cancer The website
Natural News has published claims that mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 can cause
cancer by inactivating
tumor-suppressing proteins. This claim was based on a misrepresentation of a 2018 study at
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), which did not involve the mRNA used in vaccines. The study found that
transcription errors in certain mRNA molecules could disrupt production of tumor-suppressing proteins. However, mRNA used in vaccines is made artificially, and poses no risk of transcription errors once made. A retracted Japanese study titled "
Increased Age-Adjusted Cancer Mortality After the Third mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccine Dose During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan" was used to claim that
COVID-19 vaccine recipients were more likely to develop various
cancers, although the authors themselves admitted that their results were not clinically verified. The study does not present data breaking down
cancer deaths by vaccination status, nor does it show that it increases after vaccination, or that it is higher in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated individuals of the same age or comorbidity status, nor does it provide any epidemiological evidence that vaccines increased the risk of
cancer.
Prion disease A widely reposted 2021 Facebook post claiming that the mRNA vaccines against
COVID-19 could cause
prion diseases was based on a paper by
J. Bart Classen. The paper was published in
Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, whose publisher, Scivision Publishers, is included in
Beall's list of publishers of
predatory journals. Classen's only published evidence for his claim was a brief summary of an "unspecified analysis of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine", according to
NewsGuard.
Vincent Racaniello, professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University, described the claim as "completely wrong". Previous mRNA vaccines have been tested in humans, and were not found to cause prion disease. The mRNA contained in the vaccine is degraded within a few days of entering the cells of a person receiving it and does not accumulate in the brain. The U.S. Alzheimer's Association has stated that currently available COVID-19 vaccines are safe for persons with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of
dementia.
Polio vaccine as a claimed COVID-19 carrier Social media posts in
Cameroon pushed a conspiracy theory that
polio vaccines contained COVID-19, further complicating
polio eradication beyond the logistical and funding difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Antibody-dependent enhancement Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) is the phenomenon in which a person with antibodies against one virus (i.e. from infection or vaccination) can develop worse disease when infected by a second closely related virus, due to a unique and rare reaction with proteins on the surface of the second virus. ADE has been observed
in vitro and in animal studies with many different viruses that do not display ADE in humans. Molecular simulations indicate that ADE might play a role in new strains such as delta, but none in the strains that the vaccines were originally designed for.
Anti-vaccination activists cited ADE as a reason to avoid vaccination against COVID-19.
Vaccines contain aborted fetal tissue In November 2020, claims circulated on the web that the
Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine contained tissue from aborted fetuses. While it is true that
cell lines derived from a fetus aborted in 1970 plays a role in the vaccine development process, the molecules for the vaccine are separated from the resulting cell debris. Several other COVID-19 vaccine candidates use fetal cell lines descended from fetuses aborted between 1972 and 1985. No fetal tissue is present in these vaccines.
Spike protein cytotoxicity In 2021, anti-vaccination misinformation circulated on social media saying that
SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins were "very dangerous" and "
cytotoxic". At that time, all COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use either contained mRNA or mRNA precursors for the production of the spike protein. This mRNA consists of instructions which, when processed in cells, cause production of spike proteins, which trigger an adaptive immune response in a safe and effective manner.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome In October 2021, the website
The Exposé used data published by the
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which misleadingly indicated that COVID-19 infection rates were higher among fully-vaccinated than unvaccinated people, to falsely claim that the COVID-19 vaccines were not only ineffective but were also causing vaccinated people to develop
AIDS "much faster than anticipated". The website's claims were cited in a speech by Brazilian president
Jair Bolsonaro. The video of Bolsonaro's speech was removed from
Facebook,
Instagram and
YouTube for violating their policies regarding COVID-19 vaccines. In January 2022,
The Exposé promoted a conspiracy theory claiming that Germans fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 "[would] have full blown Covid-19 vaccine induced acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) by the end of [the month]."
Vaccines as a cause of death United States Claims have been made that data from the
United States Department of Health and Human Services's
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reveals a hidden toll of COVID-19 vaccine related deaths. This claim has been debunked as a misleading misrepresentation by anti-vaccine sources. including suicides, mechanical incidents (car accident The websites Medalerts.org by the
National Vaccine Information Center, a known and leading anti-vaccine center, and
OpenVAERS have been linked to this misinformation. A 2021 transparency report from
Facebook found that the most popular shared link in the United States from January to March was an article from the
South Florida Sun-Sentinel about a doctor's death two weeks after getting a COVID-19 vaccine. The medical examiner later found no evidence of a link to the vaccine, but the article was promoted and twisted by anti-vaccine groups to raise doubt about vaccine safety. Anti-vaccine activists
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and
Del Bigtree have suggested without evidence that the death of Baseball Hall of Fame member
Hank Aaron was caused by receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Aaron's death was reported as being due to natural causes, and medical officials did not believe the COVID-19 vaccine had any adverse effect on his health. On 7 October 2022,
Florida Surgeon General Dr.
Joseph Ladapo issued a press release discouraging men aged 18 to 39 from taking the COVID-19 vaccine since a study by the
Florida Department of Health concluded vaccinated men of the age group had an 84% increased likelihood of dying from
heart problems. The study was neither
peer-reviewed, nor published in a
scientific journal, while its authors, source of funding, and methods of analysis were not disclosed. The study faced ample criticism, contending misrepresentation of data, that the time frame for examining deaths was too long, a lack of transparency, and that the efficacy and safety of the vaccines were ignored.
Steve Kirsch, an
entrepreneur who promotes COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, cited the study as proof that
mRNA vaccines are fatal to children. A study published in
JAMA showed an increased risk for
myocarditis within seven days of vaccination. The group with most recorded cases (males aged 16 to 17) had 106 per million doses, though the actual incidence is likely higher due to overall underreporting. 96% of patients were hospitalized, but most cases were mild and patients typically experienced symptomatic recovery by discharge.
Other countries Similar misrepresentation of known "deaths after vaccination" as "deaths due to vaccination" have been mentioned in various countries, including Italy, Austria, South Korea, Germany, Spain, Croatia, United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, Peru, Australia and Canada. These have been debunked as misrepresentation of the cases and data. The
Falun Gong-affiliated news channel
New Tang Dynasty Television spread misrepresentation of Taiwan's VAERS surveillance data to suggest COVID-19 vaccines, including the Taiwanese-developed
Medigen vaccine, killed more people than the virus. False claims asserting that an alleged large number of athletes died of
cardiovacular disease as a result of
COVID-19 vaccines spread on
social media in various countries.
Vaccine contains tracking agent In November 2021, a White House correspondent for the conservative outlet
Newsmax falsely tweeted that the
Moderna vaccine contained
luciferase "so that you can be tracked." A
false claim asserting that
graphene oxide was a vaccine ingredient spread on
social media in 2023.
Vaccine 'reversal' and detox In November 2021, erroneous claims arose that a "detox bath" of
epsom salt,
borax and
bentonite clay can remove the effects of the vaccine. In fact, a rapid review of literature shows that no known mechanism exists for removing a vaccine from a vaccinated person.
Approved vaccines "not available" in the United States Under U.S. FDA regulations, a product approved under an
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) is considered "legally distinct" from a product that has received full approval by the FDA. Besides differences in naming and labeling to account for its approval, and increased FDA oversight over its production, there are no formulaic differences between the EUA and approved versions of a vaccine, and the two are considered interchangeable once approved. For example, the
Pfizer vaccine has been labeled as "Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine" since distribution began, but was assigned the
United States Adopted Name "Comirnaty" upon its approval. and in a lawsuit filed by the
First Liberty Institute against a COVID-19 vaccine mandate implemented by the U.S. military. In the case of the latter, the plaintiffs claimed that the mandate applied specifically to Comirnaty only, and not the "experimental" Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. Another claim was that the approved version does not share the same liability protection as the version produced under an EUA. Under the
Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, individuals are eligible for compensation via the
Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP) for severe outcomes or death caused by COVID-19 countermeasures such as vaccines. This applies generally to all COVID-19 vaccines, including those not yet given formal approval.
Vaccines as an "operating system" A statement on the Moderna website which likens mRNA vaccines to operating systems as an analogy, but does not literally state that the vaccines were operating systems.
Department of Defense disinformation campaign A
Reuters investigation found that the
United States Department of Defense (DoD), as retaliation for China's attempts to blame the United States for the pandemic, undertook a
disinformation campaign in the Philippines, later expanded to Central Asia and the Middle East, which sought to discredit China, in particular its
Sinovac vaccine. The campaign was described as "payback" for
COVID-19 disinformation by China directed against the U.S. and an effort to counter China's
vaccine diplomacy. The campaign ran from 2020 to 2021 and was overseen by
Special Operations Command Pacific as well as the
United States Central Command. The WHO reported that as of 5 February 2020, despite news reports of "breakthrough drugs" being discovered, there were no treatments known to be effective; this included antibiotics and herbal remedies not being useful. On Facebook, a widely shared post claimed in April 2020 that seven Senegalese children had died because they had received a COVID-19 vaccine. No such vaccine existed, although some were in clinical trials at that time.
Magnetization Some social media users have falsely asserted COVID-19 vaccines cause people to
become magnetized such that metal objects stick to their bodies. Video clips of people showing magnets sticking to the injection site have been spread on social media platforms such as
Instagram,
Facebook,
Twitter,
YouTube, and
TikTok, claiming that vaccination implants a
microchip in people's arms. Called by Republicans as an expert witness before a June 2021 hearing of the Ohio House Health Committee, anti-vaccine activist
Sherri Tenpenny promoted the false claim, adding, "There's been people who have long suspected that there's been some sort of an interface, yet to be defined interface, between what's being injected in these shots and all of the 5G towers."
5G-compatible chips are about 13 times too large to fit through the needles used to administer COVID-19 vaccines, whose internal diameter is between 0.26 and 0.41 millimeters. Most microchips do not contain
ferromagnetic components, being made mostly of
silicon. It is possible for smooth objects such as magnets to stick to one's skin if the skin is slightly oily. No COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. or Europe contain magnetic or metal ingredients or microchips. Instead the vaccines contain proteins, lipids, water, salts, and
pH buffers.
Disappearing needles Twitter and YouTube users circulated video clips purporting to show that vaccine injections given to health care workers were staged for the press using syringes with "disappearing needles". The syringes used were actually
safety syringes, which automatically retract the needle once the vaccine is injected in order to reduce accidental
needlestick injuries to nurses and lab workers.
Political divides and distrust in government Discourses against COVID vaccines became part of
QAnon's set of beliefs, as adherents used the pandemic to promote the conspiracy theory. In 2021,
Romana Didulo, a QAnon-affiliated Canadian conspiracy theorist calling herself the "Queen of Canada" caused her online followers to harass Canadian businesses and public authorities with demands that they cease all measures related to combating the pandemic. She was apprehended in late November after calling on her 73,000
Telegram followers to "shoot to kill" all healthcare workers administering COVID-19 vaccines.
Anti-government groups such as
sovereign citizens and
freemen on the land also took part in the anti-vaccine movement. During lockdowns in Bulgaria, many Roma neighborhoods claimed that they were subject to lockdowns without proper explanations even though the level of infections to other parts of the country were higher than their neighborhoods. The communities already held a distrust of institutions and the government, and helped create an even more strained relationship and lack of trust. In France,
Florian Philippot and
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, right-wing candidates to the
2022 presidential election, have both cast doubts about the vaccine's effectiveness and safety.
Government investigations In December 2022, vaccine-skeptical Florida Governor
Ron DeSantis requested the impaneling of a
grand jury to "investigate criminal or wrongful activity in Florida relating to the development, promotion, and distribution of vaccines purported to prevent COVID-19 infection, symptoms, and transmission", specifically mentioning statements made by drug manufacturers and federal officials.{{cite news |title=Florida Supreme Court impanels grand jury on COVID-19 vaccines |url=https://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2022-12-23/florida-supreme-court-impanels-grand-jury-on-covid-19-vaccines |publisher=
WUSF |author=Jim Saunders |agency=
News Service of Florida ==Vaccine hesitancy==