Microchips, Magnets And Shedding: Here Are 5 (Debunked) Covid Vaccine Conspiracy Theories Spreading Online
Topline
Despite efforts from social media platforms and top health officials to combat disinformation, conspiracy theories about the coronavirus vaccine continue to spread rapidly across the internet—here’s a look at some of the recurring falsehoods threatening the U.S.’s inoculation drive.
A person has their temperature checked before entering a vaccine clinic in Los Angeles.
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Key Facts
That the vaccine includes a microchip, a wild conspiracy theory stemming from years of baseless misrepresentation of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates’ vaccine advocacy efforts as a cover for establishing a global surveillance system that has continued to resurface with new and easily disproven claims, including that people can use magnets to identify the microchips in their arms.
That the vaccine alters your DNA, a claim that has circulated on social media since last year—based on multiple pseudoscientific posts and statements falsely attributed to Moderna’s chief medical officer—that experts have debunked as a fundamental misunderstanding of mRNA vaccines, which do not change a person’s DNA.
That the vaccine can be “shed” from one person to another, a claim that gained enough prominence through boosts from popular anti-vaccine activists that it prompted a Miami school to ask vaccinated teachers to keep their distance from students and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to specify shedding can only occur when a vaccine contains a “live virus,” which the approved Covid-19 vaccines don’t.
That the vaccine is causing Covid-19 variants, a falsehood that picked up steam in May after Nobel-prize winning French virologist Luc Montagnier (a past participant in anti-vaccination protests) insisted in an interview “vaccination is creating new variants,” a claim other medical experts have deemed unscientific and “completely bonkers” as variants occur randomly and independently of vaccinations.
That the vaccine has already led to a large number of deaths, a claim buoyed by prominent conservatives including Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) that is based on the thousands of deaths listed on the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), though the database does not display verified information and the CDC has reported “no causal link” between the listed deaths and the Covid-19 vaccine.
Crucial Quote
On Thursday morning, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky debunked a new and bizarre claim originating from TikTok that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine makes recipients Bluetooth connectable. “That’s ridiculous,” she told CBS “This Morning’s” Gale King. “We’re not being injected with chips. What we’re being injected with is this incredible scientific breakthrough that keeps us safe.”
Key Background
Persistent online disinformation has been an obstacle throughout the U.S.’s vaccine rollout and becomes increasingly critical as federal and state governments labor to meet President Biden’s goal of having 70% of adults inoculated by July 4. Polling has revealed concern about vaccine side effects, including unproven claims the virus causes infertility, along with a general lack of trust in the shot are among the most common reasons people say they haven’t yet gotten the vaccine. Despite crackdowns on misinformation by social media sites, reports highlight that many falsehoods go unmoderated and spread easily across different platforms.
Big Number
16 million. That’s how many pieces of content violating their Covid-19 and vaccine policies Facebook and Instagram say they have removed since the beginning of the pandemic.
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