The World Health Organization (WHO) has rejected allegations that COVID-19 vaccines are causing new variants of the virus.
Reports have circulated online in France that people who have been vaccinated are “more likely” to infect others with “super-strains” of the coronavirus.
But the WHO and other immunologists have said these allegations are unfounded and have no scientific basis.
“There is no evidence of this,” said Euronews, a WHO spokesman. “Vaccination is part of the solution to the suppression of transmission, together with existing public health measures.”
Online misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines has been a thorn in the side of European governments and their vaccination strategies.
A March Ipsos poll found that only 59% of adults in France plan to be vaccinated against COVID-19, compared to Italy (85%) and Spain (82%).
“The first message is ‘take out the vaccine’ because it will stop the virus,” said Professor Luke O’Neill, an immunologist at Trinity College Dublin.
“Any suggestion that the vaccines make things worse is quite the opposite message to give out,” he added.
“This is an emergency. We need to get as many people vaccinated as possible to prevent variants from popping up and to stop the virus from spreading.”
The wrong information that spreads online
Since last week, several French social media accounts have claimed that, without evidence, the COVID-19 vaccines give rise to variants of the virus.
A number of pages shared a link to an article claiming that vaccinated citizens are “running bacteriological time bombs” and are a “threat to society”.
The article further falsely claimed that people who were vaccinated probably infected most people with superstars.
The theories were shared on various Facebook and Twitter pages, such as in Lyon and Nice, as well as across the border into Switzerland. One Twitter account that insists on the same false claim has more than 6,300 followers.
Meanwhile, a Facebook page that shares the content of the article has more than 33,000 likes and 52,000 followers.
But the WHO, which has been monitoring virus mutations and variants since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, reiterated that there is no evidence to support the article’s claims.
“Vaccines will reduce the replication of the virus, it does not cause variants,” Prof O’Neill added.
The science behind new variants of COVID-19
Various varieties and new strains of the new coronavirus have emerged in recent months in South Africa, Brazil and the United Kingdom, which have reportedly been more contagious.
However, the behavior of variants is not linked to COVID-19 vaccines, and may arise rather than the virus transmitting and spreading.
Prof O’Neill told Euronews that the emergence of virus variants is a “random process”.
“Every time the virus splits and makes a copy of itself, it makes a small mistake, and there is a chance that these mistakes could be more troublesome,” he said.
“Vaccines bring out the human immune system to kill the virus, which prevents it from recurring, and therefore reduces the chance of variants emerging.”
“The vaccine strengthens the immune response so that there are no variants at all in people who have been vaccinated. It is more likely to occur in people who do not have an immune response.”
Prof O’Neill points to the flu vaccine and says that there has never been a known vaccine that has caused an evolutionary change and caused more dangerous variants.
In a statement to Euronews, the WHO also reiterated that vaccines will reduce the spread of new virus strains.
“When a virus – including SARS-CoV-2 – spreads widely in a population and causes many infections, it increases the likelihood of the virus mutating,” a spokesman said.
“The more opportunities a virus has to spread, the more it repeats itself – and the more opportunities it has to undergo change.
“Rolling out vaccines as quickly and widely as possible is critical to protecting people before they are exposed to the virus and the risk of new variants.”