In a video shared on social media, it is claimed that the mRNA coronavirus vaccine is not actually a vaccine, but a “device” designed to make people sick. This is false.
The video, which has been viewed more than 11,000 times on YouTube, can be viewed (here).
In it, a man called ‘Dr David Martin’ is linked to previous misinformation about the pandemic (here, here) during a video call.
In the clip, Martin claims that the vaccine is not actually a vaccine, but a ‘medical aid’ that makes people sick.
“It’s not a vaccine. It is an mRNA packaged in a fat envelope delivered to a cell. It is a medical device designed to stimulate the human cell to become a pathogen creator ”(time code – 00:19), says Martin.
‘You are injected with a chemical to cause disease, and not to cause an immune-transmitted reaction, in other words nothing about it can stop you from transmitting something. It is about you getting sick and your own cells becoming the thing that makes you sick ”(time code – 5:20).
Although there are different types of vaccines, they have the same definition.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) defines a vaccine as a product that stimulates the immune system to deliver immunity to a disease, and protects the person from the disease (here).
This is how mRNA coronavirus vaccines work, but in a different way than previously seen.
While earlier vaccinations used an attenuated or inactivated form of a virus, mRNA vaccinations instruct cells to make a specific protein to elicit an immune response (here).
These vaccines have been found to prevent the symptomatic and serious effects of COVID-19 (here).
Research is underway to determine whether the vaccines have an effect on transmission.
The data analysis in a pre-published study by the Israeli Ministry of Health and Pfizer Inc., which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the Pfizer mRNA vaccine reduces infection, including asymptomatic cases, by 89.4% and in symptomatic cases with 93.7% here).
Reuters has denied false claims about the safety of vaccines (here) and (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are designed to elicit an immune response and protect a person from the disease.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.