Video of ‘QR code’ detected in arm is not evidence of vaccine microchips

26 August 2021
What was claimed

A video appears to show a phone detecting a new “product” when placed near a man’s arm, suggesting he was implanted with an electronic device when vaccinated.

Our verdict

Vaccines do not contain microchips. This is not evidence of microchips being contained in vaccines.

A video posted on Facebook shows someone holding a phone in camera mode in front of another person’s arm; after a few seconds a pop-up appears on the phone which says “View Product – 19313734”. Someone in the background can be heard saying: “He scanned his arm and he has the chip in it.” The person with the phone said he scanned the man’s arm with a QR code scanner.

Although we also cannot tell whether the man being “scanned” has been vaccinated or not, the reference to a chip suggests the people in this video are referring to the misleading idea that Covid-19 vaccinations contain microchips.

We have debunked this and similar claims on a number of occasions. All of the ingredients for the Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines used in the UK have been made publicly available. None of them contain microchips.

The idea that a QR code scanner was used is implausible. A QR code is a type of barcode and there is clearly no visual barcode on the man’s arm. A QR code scanner would not detect an embedded microchip even if one was in the body.

It’s unclear what caused the phone to act as it did. It possibly detected another electronic device in the vicinity using Bluetooth or using Near Field Communication (NFC) which was registered as “19313734”.

But whatever the cause, this is no evidence for the man having a microchip in his arm, placed there during vaccination. 

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