A strange and weird claim has bene doing the rounds lately. A few days back a claim started doing the rounds on social media that the Covid-19 vaccines are responsible for growing new variants of the virus inside the bodies of vaccinated people. The claim is completely false and baseless as nothing like that can happen in reality.
The variants cannot grow inside the body due to the vaccine. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has clarified that the Covid is constantly changing due to a natural ongoing process of mutation. The claim is just like many other false claims and misinformation being spread around Covid.
Vaccines Not Responsible
The claim first appeared in article and video that was published on InfoWars website on January 20 with the title: "COVID Vaccines Are Growing New Variants Inside Vaxxed Bodies, Claims Gates-Backed Doctor."
The video and article open with the statement: "A former Bill Gates-backed virologist Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche claims that COVID mRNA injections are creating more variants, will not stop the virus and should never be given to children."
The article on InfoWars also includes a video of Vanden Bossche, while the original video is hosted on BANNED.VIDEO. The video is heavily edited with music playing in the background, which does the trick. Bossche's words are heavily edited and people started believing into the cliam.
In the video, Vanden Bossche says at the 13th second that COVID vaccines are growing new variants inside the bodies of vaccinated people. That made people believe in it as they didn't hear the full interview bust just a few seconds of it.
"If you have a vaccine that cannot prevent the transmission, you cannot control this pandemic. The virus will escape. You cannot win this. It's impossible. So in other words, with this mass vaccination, you're doing exactly the opposite. You are generating a breeding ground for even more infectious variants to replicate."
At 42 seconds into the video, Vanden Bossche goes on to claim that vaccinating children opens them to risks that could include autoimmune diseases: "Scientifically, there is no rationale whatsoever to vaccinate children. This cannot be justified. There is no added value whatsoever for children. There is only major concerns and major risks. ... And my advice is very, very clear, under no single circumstance should you allow to get your child vaccinated."
The comments definitely are concerning but what Vanden Bossche said was in a different context but the video makes people start believing that vaccines are growing Covid-19 variants inside the bodies of those who are vaccinated and thus Covid vaccines are dangerous.
Absurd Claim and the Truth
People got tricked more because Vanden Bossche's name is linked to Gates Foundation and Bill Gates has often been dragged into conspiracy theories surrounding the coronavirus. In the first place, Vanden Bossche holds degree in veterinary medicine. He is also a doctorate in virology, and worked for vaccine companies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the Voice for Science and Solidarity website.
However, he isn't an antivaxxer, which he himself has clarified earlier. What he meant to say is that if a vaccine cannot prevent transmission, the virus cannot be controlled as it will continue mutating and infecting people.
Fact is that Covid-19 vaccines do not create variants of the virus that causes Covid-19. Instead, Covid-19 vaccines can help prevent new variants from emerging.
New variants of a virus get created because the virus that causes Covid-19 is constantly changing through a natural ongoing process of mutation like all other viruses. As the virus spreads, it has more opportunities to change. High vaccination coverage in a population reduces the spread of the virus and helps prevent new variants from emerging.
Moreover, the CDC and the Worth Health Organization (WHO) have both debunked the claims earlier too. The CDC had clarified that the Covid-19 variants are growing because of natural ongoing process. Also, it has debunked claims that vaccines are causing autoimmune diseases among children.
The CDC, in fact, recommends everyone 5 years old and over get a Covid vaccine to help protect against Covid. Thus, the claim is completely false and baseless and is just another conspiracy theory surrounding the virus.
