Fact Check-'Magnet test' does not prove COVID-19 jabs contain metal or a microchip
Experts say vaccinated individuals cannot experience magnetism at the injection site.
(Reuters) - Vaccines for COVID-19 do not contain metals or microchips that make recipients magnetic at the site of injection, physics and medical experts have said.
The flawed claim was made in a series of viral videos claiming to show magnets attracted to the arms of alleged jab recipients. Several clips said the supposed phenomenon was proof that people were microchipped, while others provided no explanation for the “magnet challenge”.
However, these posts are not evidence of a magnetic reaction nor that COVID-19 jabs contain a microchip.
Firstly, baseless conspiracies about microchips in coronavirus vaccines throughout the pandemic have been debunked, which often targeted the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.
Secondly, none of the COVID-19 jabs approved in the United Kingdom or the United States contain metallic ingredients. Many other shots do have small amounts of aluminium, which does not stick to magnets, but Oxford University researchers say this is no more harmful than the minimal quantities found naturally in almost all foods and drinking water.
Thirdly, even if COVID-19 vaccines did contain magnetic metals, they would not cause a magnetic reaction. Medical professionals at the Meedan Health Desk said: “The amount of metal that would need to be in a vaccine for it to attract a magnet is much more substantial than the amounts that could be present in a vaccine s small dose”.
Professor Michael Coey from the School of Physics at Trinity College Dublin also described the claims as “complete nonsense”, telling Reuters via email that you would need about one gram of iron metal to attract and support a permanent magnet at the injection site, something you would “easily feel” if it was there.
“By the way, my wife was injected with her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine today, and I had mine over two weeks ago. I have checked that magnets are not attracted to our arms, he wrote.
Responding to a “magnet challenge” video specifically claiming to feature a Pfizer jab recipient, a spokeswoman for the company confirmed in an email to Reuters that their vaccine does not contain any metals and cannot cause a magnetic response when it is injected.
VERDICT
False. Experts say vaccinated individuals cannot experience magnetism at the injection site.
