Anti-vaccine lies and hoaxes refuted
Since the first vaccines against Covid-19 were developed and the vaccination campaign began in Panama the stories and lies that have emerged around the biologics have multiplied reports La Prensa which reminds readers that those who spread false health information can be sanctioned
The latest hoax is that “vaccines contain heavy metals and magnets that attract magnets”, a statement that runs through social networks and WhatsApp groups, and that is being denied by scientists.
Francisco Matos, coordinator of Innovation in Physics Learning of the National Secretariat of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Senacyt) affirmed that in the composition of the vaccines against Covid-19 there are no paramagnetic materials and, even if they exist, they would be able to generate a field of magnetism strong enough to make a magnet stick to the skin.
The physical engineer specializing in photonic components detailed that an adult has between 3.5 to 4.0 grams of iron in his body, on average, and even in the presence of equipment capable of generating a considerable magnetic field – such as those used for magnetic resonance images – the person does not feel any attractive force. It would require a greater amount of paramagnetic material compared to the content that can be injected through vaccines, he said.
People can prove the falsehood of this hoax through a simple experiment, without the need for magnets, both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. “You just have to place a coin on a smooth section of the arm and you can see how it remains stuck until gravity does its job,” he said.
Another hoax that is circulating is that a tracking device was introduced into vaccines. To introduce such a device via vaccines, without the users realizing it, it would have to be extremely small, which is possible. However, the scientist warns, in order to work, this device would have to be powered by a nearby power source, which would certainly not be available or would be depleted in the case of a battery.
The director of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Panama, Ivonne Torres Atencio, stated that the false news about magnetism may be due to the fact that some vaccines contain aluminum salts, a compound that is used as an adjuvant – its function is to improve immunogenicity – something that has been done for 70 years, to stimulate the immune system and introduce smaller amounts of antigen. There have never been any adverse effects related to aluminum in some vaccines, he noted.
Vaccines with adjuvants (aluminum salts) are basically those for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, and hepatitis A and B.
Torres Atencio argued that the amount of aluminum contained in vaccines is much lower (less than 1%) than the amounts of aluminum that naturally occur in, the l foods we consume, including breast milk.
The scientists consulted by La Prensa agree that today the dissemination of false information is linked to magnetism, but soon a new issue will emerge for the anti-vaccine propagators.
In Panama, a few days after the arrival of the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine, hoaxes circulated such as the one that said that messenger RNA intervenes in the genetic material of the person who receives it or that the vaccine was made with cells from aborted fetuses.
