As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, albeit slower\u00a0compared to previous weeks, and the age eligibility expands to include children 12 and older,\u00a0one social media post is revisiting fears stirred early on during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
The May 10 Instagram post from an account called Keep_Canada_Free shows a video of an unidentified\u00a0masked woman\u00a0demonstrating with a small silver magnet that appears to stick to one arm, where she supposedly received\u00a0the Pfizer shot, but not the other, unvaccinated arm.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“You go figure it out. We’re chipped,” she tells her viewers.<\/p>\n
The 25-second video has had over 20,000 views on Instagram and has been shared on social media platforms such as Twitter,\u00a0where a resized version posted on May 8\u00a0also includes the claim the vaccine has “magnetic reactions.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fact check: <\/strong>India’s COVID-19 surge not connected to vaccinations<\/span><\/p>\n It’s unclear whether the woman was actually vaccinated or used a real magnet \u2013 USA TODAY reached out to Keep_Canada_Free for comment \u2013 but one thing is clear: The COVID-19 vaccines don’t cause magnetic reactions or contain tracking devices.<\/p>\n The claim the COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips originates from a conspiracy theory\u00a0claiming Microsoft co-founder\u00a0Bill Gates is behind\u00a0a global scheme to\u00a0secretly implant and track billions of people.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gates has repeatedly denied the claim, and USA TODAY, as well as other independent fact-checking organizations, have found no evidence to support it.<\/p>\n Microchips using radio-frequency identification, or RFID, technology were also purportedly contained within the COVID-19 vaccines. The claim grew from news of a partnership between the federal government and ApiJect Systems to\u00a0create a high-speed supply chain for pre-filled syringes with RFID-tracking capabilities, USA TODAY reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Connecticut-based company was awarded\u00a0$1.3 billion\u00a0in May 2020 to make its single-use syringes compatible for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but the technology is still in “testing and regulatory reviews,” according to NBC News\u00a0in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n While pharmacies, hospitals, health agencies and private providers\u00a0do employ electronic\u00a0health records and other digital databases\u00a0to track who has been immunized, there are no such technologies inherent in any of the vaccines, both Pfizer and Moderna told USA TODAY.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fact check: <\/strong>No evidence that a 2-year-old died after getting Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine<\/span><\/p>\n The claim the COVID-19 vaccines can cause magnetic reactions is also unfounded, said virologist Angela Rasmussen\u00a0affiliated with Georgetown University.<\/p>\n “This is so silly. The vaccines do not magnetize your arm,” she told USA TODAY. “This seems like the person in the video just stuck the magnet to their arm (with sweat, etc).”\u00a0<\/p>\n Based on our research,\u00a0we rate the\u00a0claim the COVID-19 vaccines contain tracking devices like microchips or cause magnetic reactions FALSE. There is no evidence to suggest such technologies are contained in the vaccines. Experts say a magnetic reaction as a vaccine side effect is completely unfounded.\u00a0<\/p>\nTies to conspiracy theories<\/h2>\n
Our rating: False<\/h2>\n
Our fact-check sources:<\/h2>\n
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