No Evidence to Support Vaccine Shedding or Protective Tea
The Claim
Drinking pine needle tea can protect people from contracting harmful particles/spike proteins that are shed from vaccinated people.
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Emerging story
Throughout May, a range of social media accounts began posting about the protective qualities of pine needle tea. Specifically, these accounts stated that this tea was a natural form of protection from contracting harmful particles and spike proteins that shed from individuals who were vaccinated against coronavirus.
On Facebook, posts making these claims have gained hundreds of interactions. By early June, posts promoting pine needle tea as a protection from vaccine shedding were still appearing regularly.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation has found that there is no evidence to support claims that COVID-19 vaccines shed particles from one person to another. Pine needle tea may have certain health benefits, but has no relationship to vaccines.
The coronavirus vaccines have a 0% chance of shedding anything harmful to individuals. The source goes on to elaborate that live attenuated vaccines may cause certain shedding, though it is extremely rare that they would spread a germ strong enough to cause any disease. None of the COVID-19 vaccines that are being administered are live attenuated vaccines. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are messenger RNA vaccines that tell immune cells to replicate a spike protein that exists in coronavirus for the purpose of building up antibodies. Additionally, the mRNA that is injected into the human body is gone within 24 hours. The spike protein that it produces leaves the body over the course of 72 hours.
The Johnson & Johnson and Astrazeneca vaccines are viral vector vaccines. Like the Moderna/Pfizer vaccines, they tell the human body to create spike proteins for the purpose of antibody production. They do this via an adenovirus which has been modified so that it does not reproduce or make people ill. Its inability to replicate means that there is no way that it can shed.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and MedPage Today also state that vaccine shedding does not occur with the coronavirus vaccines.
A YouTube video appears to be the original source of how pine needle tea became mistaken as a cure for this nonexistent condition. On April 21, a video titled THE ANTIDOTE w/ Dr. Mikovits was uploaded to the site. Dr. Mikovits states that suramin is a cure for the vaccine’s side effects, as well as autism. Then, on April 28th, 2021, a message board on the site Simplelists claimed that pine needles were a good source of suramin.These claims then spread to a range of pseudoscientific websites before making their way to social media. In the past, a range of sources have heavily criticized Doctor Mikovits for spreading fake science, especially in regards to coronavirus.
