A viral conspiracy theory suggesting that COVID-19 vaccines contain metal ingredients or devices, including a magnetic microchip, is found to be fake. The fake theory gained momentum after a social media user posted a video showing a magnet getting stuck to the vaccine spot.
It isn't the first time that the COVID-19 vaccine has been embroiled in a controversy related to its ingredients and possible aftereffects. From suggesting the presence of a microchip to 5G technology, the conspiracies have been plenty.
Magnet Sticks Only on the Vaccinated Arm
In an Instagram post made on May 10, the account, Keep_Canada_Free, uploaded featuring an unidentified masked woman wearing a grey coloured top.
The woman, who is seen holding a circular shaped silver colored magnet, claims that she received the Pfizer COVID 19 vaccine shot on her left arm. Then she goes on to stick the magnet on the spot where she received the vaccine jab. The magnet appears to stick on her arm. Later, she moves the same magnet to the unvaccinated arm where it does not stick. "You go figure it out. We're chipped. We are all f**ked," she tells her viewers.
The video was captioned "Pfizer jab and a magnet experiment! No words left to describe this." The 25-second clip has received over 23,000 views and shared multiple times on various social media platforms.
Following the video, a lot of other social media users to posted similar clippings claiming that the vaccine contains some kind of magnetic particles.
Experts Claim COVID-19 Vaccine Does Not Have Magnetic Properties
Debunking the viral claim AFP Fact Check claimed that the medical experts have called these kind of video part of conspiracy theory "typical of the disinformation about the novel coronavirus."
Speaking to the outlet, Dr Stephen Schrantz, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Chicago Medicine, said that getting a Covid-19 vaccine cannot cause your arm to be magnetized.
This is a hoax, plain and simple. There is absolutely no way that a vaccine can lead to the reaction shown in these videos posted to Instagram and/or YouTube. It is better explained by 2 sided tape on the metal disk being applied to the skin rather than a magnetic reaction," he added.
Claiming that it was impossible for magnets to stick on the vaccinated spot, Dr Thomas Hope, vaccine researcher and professor of cell and developmental biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine said that there's nothing in the COVID-19 vaccine that a magnet can interact with, it's protein and lipids, salts, water and chemicals that maintain the pH. That's basically it, so this is not possible."
