FALSE: COVID-19 vaccines do not contain toxic graphene oxide
This website claimed that COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide, which is toxic to humans. According to the story, graphene oxide is “activated by electromagnetic frequencies” and causes symptoms similar to SARS-CoV-2.
SARS-CoV-2 is a family member of viruses called coronaviruses.
However, no currently available COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene oxide.
The World Health Organization-approved COVID-19 vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Janssen, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinovac CoronaVac, Bharat Biotech, Novavax, SinoPharm, or Sputnik-V COVID-19 do not list graphene oxide as an active ingredient.
Graphene oxide is a nanomaterial predominantly used for biomedical applications such as cancer treatment, water purifiers, and other biotechnology applications. It has been examined as a potential vaccine adjuvant, but was not deemed suitable.
Graphene oxide can be toxic at very high concentrations, with different symptoms than those associated with COVID-19.
The claim has previously been debunked by fact-checkers multiple times before.
PesaCheck has examined a claim that COVID-19 vaccines contain toxic graphene oxide and found it to be FALSE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck climate change fact-checker Christiaan van der Merwe and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck’s managing editor Doreen Wainainah.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.