Vaccine Does Not Lead to New COVID-19 Variants
The Claim
The COVID-19 vaccine is causing new coronavirus variants.
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Emerging story
During a recent interview, French virologist Luc Montagnier claimed that the mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign is responsible for new viral variants. The claim soon went viral.
Misbar’s Analysis
Luc Montagnier’s claim that vaccines are responsible for more dangerous COVID-19 variants is not supported by science. The Nobel laureate, who attended an anti-vaccination conference in 2012, said the virus creates new variants when faced with vaccine-produced antibodies.
However, according to medical expert Peter Stoilov, “mutations and variants occur randomly and independently of vaccination.” In fact, most COVID-19 variants appeared well before the vaccine became widely available.
Experts assert that vaccinations lead to fewer viral mutations, or variants, not more. This is because variants emerge in those that are already infected with the virus. They come about through random mutation when the virus replicates within an infected individual. Those that are vaccinated have a much lower chance of contracting the virus making viral mutations far less likely.
In an interview with Euronews, Professor Luke O'Neill put it this way, “Vaccines bring out the human immune system to kill the virus, that stops it replicating and therefore the chance of variants emerging is decreased.”
