Spanish-language post spreads false claims about COVID-19 vaccine safety

A Spanish-language social media user reposted a video from a well-known anti-vaccine doctor and spread false claims about COVID-19 vaccine safety. The user wrote that COVID-19 vaccines are a “poisonous cocktail” and that they were to blame for her sister’s and sister-in-law’s fatal heart attacks as well as her mother’s and brother’s tumors. The user also cited the anti-vaccine doctor who falsely claimed that “vaccines are not safe for human use.”

Recommendation: 

Posts falsely linking cardiac deaths and tumors to COVID-19 vaccines may undermine the public’s perception of the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Trending conversations on this topic provide an opportunity to circulate existing content around COVID-19 vaccine safety and heart health and to prebunk false claims about the risk of heart inflammation and cancer after vaccination. Messaging may emphasize that there is no evidence suggesting that COVID-19 vaccination is associated with heart failure. There is a very small risk of inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) and of the tissue surrounding the heart (pericarditis) after vaccination in certain populations, but research has shown that a COVID-19 infection is much more likely to cause myocarditis than a COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, COVID-19 vaccines do not cause cancer or increase cancer risk. Ensuring that informational and partner materials use prebunking messaging to explain how COVID-19 vaccines help to protect against severe illness, death, and long COVID—as well as COVID-19-related heart problems—is recommended.