Vaccinated People Do Not "Shed" Viruses to Others
The Claim
Non-vaccinated people are at a high risk of contracting coronavirus or other medical issues from vaccinated people.
News posted on
Emerging story
This month, sources have been claiming that it is unhealthy for unvaccinated people to be near people who have received the coronavirus vaccine. A range of social media users began posting claims that the coronavirus vaccine was causing vaccinated individuals to “shed” the virus onto unvaccinated people. Some of the symptoms that users are claiming the vaccines are spreading include blood clots, miscarriages, infertility, severe menstrual bleeding, and a range of other conditions. “Shedding” is being used as a synonym for spreading in this instance.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation has discovered that claims of “vaccine shedding” are false.
On April 2nd, the CDC updated its vaccine health recommendations. This update stated that new evidence indicated that fully vaccinated people were less likely to transmit coronavirus to other people. The source did not state that the vaccine makes people more contagious.
Additionally, on April 24th, Nebraska Medicine, which is run by University of Nebraska Medical Center, stated there was no data or science to back up claims that the coronavirus vaccines could shed the disease at increased levels or that a vaccinated person could affect another person’s menstruation.
One theory behind vaccine shedding states that the vaccine is shed through spike proteins. Nebraska Medicine states that spike proteins are primarily made in muscles nearby where the vaccines are administered and show up in low levels within the blood. These spike proteins cannot shed. As the University of California, San Diego states, over 48 hours, the spike proteins degrade and disappear from the human body, making them impossible to be contagious.
Additionally, these vaccines cannot be equated with gene therapy. As of 2021, gene therapies are only used in research settings, not in publicly available vaccines.
Lastly, our analysis could find no substantive evidence of the coronavirus vaccines shedding any of the other symptoms, such as infertility or blood clots, onto unvaccinated individuals.
The FDA, the CDC, the WHO, and many other health and science experts have concluded that the coronavirus vaccines, which have been through historically rigorous trials, are safe and effective.
These false claims have created ramifications for people in various nations. For instance, in the U.S. this week, at least one school has instructed vaccinated teachers to stay away from students and told teachers who were planning on getting vaccinated during the summer vacation that they may not be able to remain in their positions in the fall. In Australia, care providers for the disabled have refused to work for people who are vaccinated. In Canada, at least one store owner has banned vaccinated individuals from entering their premises.
