The conspiracy theory related to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer being capable of altering the human DNA when injected is found to be baseless and fake. Growing concern among the antivaxxers, coupled with the misinformation regarding the vaccines, has caused a stir on social media.
The pandemic, which has so far infected over 65.8 million people globally and killed 1.52 million, shows no sign of dying down since the first case was reported in Wuhan, China, in December last year.
Why is Pfizer Vaccine Being Accused of Altering Genetic Structure?
The hoax claims regarding Pfizer vaccine capable of modifying the genetic structure when injected erupted soon after a tweet from a user known as 'The Disruptive Physician.'
In its tweet the user, who has the handle DocEvenhouse and claims to be an ER doctor and private physician, wrote: "Any vaccine that needs to be shipped and stored at -80 degrees isn't a vaccine. It's a transfection agent, kept alive so it can infect your cells and transfer genetic material. Don't let them fool you. This is genetic manipulation of humans on a massive scale. Shut it down."
The fake claim soon led to the origin of conspiracy theory that the vaccine will be used for 'genetic manipulation of humans on a massive scale,' on various social media platforms.
Truth Behind Vaccine Being Stored at Lower Temperature
According to Reuters, Pfizer relies on new technology known as messenger RNA (mRNA) to activate the immune system against the virus. The technology uses synthetic genetic material that can be generated and manufactured in weeks and produced at scale more rapidly than conventional vaccines. While the vaccines from other pharma giants are stored at much higher temperature, the Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below, reported the outlet.
Speaking to NPR, Margaret Liu, a board member of the International Society for Vaccines who specializes in genetic vaccines, equaled Pfizer vaccine's storage temperatures to freezing food to keep it from getting spoilt. "The lower temperatures slow down the pace of chemical reactions, like the enzymes that break down RNA," she had told the outlet.
Social Media Goes Into Panicked Frenzy
Despite the claim of Pfizer vaccine capable of altering the DNA structure being fake, the same created panic amongst the users on social media.
"The whole world was corrupt and filled with every kind of wickedness altered DNA age of Nephilim. This vaccine will alter your genetics, be careful this virus is not a killer plague no worse then seasonal flu," tweeted a user.
"No and yes. No: I won't take the DNA/RNA-based vaccines when they are available. These are new generation vaccines and side effects of that method are unknown. (Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are doing those) Yes: To long-history technology vaccines," read another tweet.
"Hopefully you are done having children..... Pfizer's vaccine researcher calls to halt testing as it shows it can make men and women infertile. You can still pass covid with the vaccine. You can't detox from an rna vaccine. Enjoy your new dna, hope no cancers show up later," wrote another user.
