Covid-19 vaccines don’t alter your DNA

Many posts on Facebook say: “Utilizing Covid hysteria, Dr. Fauci [former US chief medical adviser] blew up the age old regulatory process for testing new vaccines in order to bring in a host of DNA altering technology.”

The claim that the Covid-19 vaccines alter people’s DNA is false, as we have said several times before.

None of the Covid-19 vaccines used in the UK can alter people’s DNA.

Describing both the viral vector vaccines (AstraZeneca and Janssen) and the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna), the Vaccine Knowledge Project at the University of Oxford says:

“Injecting genetic material has raised questions about the use of these vaccines, such as whether they modify the DNA of those receiving them. However, this is not possible because the code cannot be incorporated into the body’s DNA.”

These vaccines work by giving the body a genetic code to produce the spike protein found on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. The immune system then responds to the protein, meaning that it will quickly recognise and destroy it if it ever encounters it again.

A further Covid-19 vaccine, VidPrevtyn Beta, was approved in December 2022. This is a recombinant vaccine, which means it does not give genetic instructions to the body.

The Facebook posts also contain many other claims about Covid-19 and other diseases, which we are not assessing in this fact check. The text appears to come from an article and video on InfoWars, a website featuring conspiracy theories that we have fact checked before. 

We often fact check misleading information about vaccines, which can spread widely on social media and harm people who use it to make decisions about their health.

Image courtesy of Braňo