Coronavirus vaccine rumours: Microchips no go 'change your DNA' and more
We dey chook eye inside some of fake vaccine tori dem- from allege plan to put microchips inside pipo to di re-arranging of our genetic code.
Claim say e dey 'change DNA' Di fear say di vaccine go somehow change pesin DNA na something wey we don see well-well for social media. BBC ask three independent scientist about dis mata. Dem say di coronavirus vaccine no go change human beign DNA. Some of di new vaccines wey dem create, including di one now wey UK don approve wey Pfizer/BioNTech develop, dey use a bit of di virus genetic material - or messenger RNA. "RNA injection inside pesin body no dey do anything to di DNA of human cell," na wetin Prof Jeffrey Almond of Oxford University tok. Dis na how e dey work, e dey give pesin body instruction to produce protein wey dey present for di surface of coronavirus. Claims about how Bill Gates plan to use di vaccine to "manipulate" or "change" human DNA don spread Di immune system go den learn to recognise and produce antibodies against di protein. Dis no be di first time wey we dey chook eye ontop coronavirus vaccine say e dey alter DNA. We bin torch light one popular video wey dey spread dis kain tori foR May. Posts don notice say messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology "dem never test am or approve am before". Na true tok say dem neva approve mRNA vaccine before now, but plenty research on mRNA vaccines for humans don happun ova di last few years. Like all new vaccines, e must go through different safety checks before dem fit recommend am for widespread use. For Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials, dem dey test di vaccines for small number of volunteers to check if e dey safe and to determine di right dose. Den for Phase 3 trials dem dey test thousands of pipo to see how effective e dey. Di group wey receive di vaccine and di control group wey receive placebo dis one mean fake melecin dem go monitor dem well-well for any side effects. . Safety monitoring go still continue afta dem don approve di vaccine for use. Bill Gates and microchip claims Next, conspiracy theory wey don spread round di globe. E claim say di coronavirus pandemic na cover for plan to implant trackable microchips and di Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates dey behind am. Vaccine "microchip" no dey and evidence no dey to support claims say Bill Gates dey plan to do dis kind tin for future. Di Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation tell BBC say di claim dey "false". One TikTok user create video about being "microchipped" and call vaccine di "mark of the beast" Rumours begin spread for March when Mr Gates tok for interview say eventually "we go get some digital certificates" wey go show who don recover, don test and ultimately who don receive di vaccine. Im no make mention of microchips. Dis come lead to one widely shared article headlined: "Bill Gates go use microchip implants to fight coronavirus." Di article make reference to one study, wey The Gates Foundation fund, about technology wey fit store pesin vaccine records for special ink wey dem go give you at di same time as injection. However, di technology no be microchip and e dey more like invisible tattoo. Dem never roll am out yet, e no go track pipo and personal information go dey inside database, na so Ana Jaklenec, wey be scientist wey dey involved in di study tok. Di billionaire founder of Microsoft don be di subject of many fake rumours during di pandemic. Fetus tissue claims We don see claims wey say di vaccine contain lung tissue of pikin wey dem abort. This no dey true. "Dem no dey use fetal cells for any vaccine production process," no so Dr Michael Head, of University of Southampton tok. One particular video post on one of di biggest anti-vaccine Facebook pages refer to one study wia di narrator claim say be evidence of wetin dey go into di vaccine AstraZeneca and Oxford University develop. But di narrator interpretation dey wrong - di study in question check how di vaccine react when dem introduce am into human cells for lab. Confusion fit don start because one step dey for di process of developing di vaccine wia dem use cells wey dem grow for lab, wey be di descendants of embryonic cells wey go normally dey destroyed. Na for 1960s dem develop di technique, and dem no abort any fetuses for di purpose of dis research. Many vaccines dey made dis way, na so Dr David Matthews, from Bristol University explain, e add say dem go comprehensively remove any traces of di cells from di vaccine "to exceptionally high standards". Di developers of di vaccine for Oxford University say dem work wit cloned cells, but dis cells "no be di cells of aborted babies". Di cells dey work like factory to manufacture a greatly weakened form of di virus wey dem don adapt to function as vaccine. But even though dem dey use cloned cells to create di weakened virus, dis cellular material dem dey remove am wen di virus dey pure and dey no dey use am for di vaccine. Recovery rate claim dem We don see many arguments against a Covid-19 vaccine wey dem share across social media wey dey ask why we need am at all if di chances to die from di virus dey very slim. One meme wey pipo share wey dey against vaccination put di recovery rate from di disease for 99.97% and suggest say to get Covid-19 dey safe pass to take di vaccine. Pipo don use meeme wey use images of rapper Drake to promote false vaccine claims To start wit, di figure for di meme as di "recovery rate" - wey show di number of pipo wey catch di virus and survive- no correct. About 99.0% of pipo wey catch Covid survive am, na wetin Jason Oke, senior statistician for di University of Oxford tok. So around 100 in 10,000 go die - e dey far higher than three in 10,000, wey di meme suggest. But, Oga Oke add say "in all cases di risks go depend on age and do not take into account short and long-term mortality rate from Covid-19". No be just about survival. For every pesin wey die, e get odas wey go live through am but undergo intensive medical care, and those wey go suffer long-lasting health effects. Dis fit add to di burden for di health service wit Covid patients, dey compete with hospital limited resources to treat patients with oda illnesses and injuries. To just concentrate on di overall death rate, or taking di vaccine as individual act, go miss di point of vaccinations, na wetin Prof Liam Smeeth of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Na to see am as something wey society dey do to protect odas. For UK, di worst part of di pandemic, di reason for lockdown, na because work go press di health service well-well. Vulnerable groups like di old and pipo wey dey sick for care homes dey at risk to dey seriously sick if dem catch di virus". Additional reporting by Kris Bramwell, Olga Robinson and Marianna Spring Read more from Reality Check Send us your questions Follow us on Twitter