Hecklers at Twickenham Stadium vaccine drive spout false claims

A video posted on Facebook, filmed at Twickenham Stadium where many people queued to receive a Covid-19 vaccination on the May Bank Holiday, includes a number of false claims.  

During the video a recording of someone who identifies herself as Kate Shemirani can be heard making various false and harmful claims about the vaccines, some of which we’ve looked into.

“This Covid-19 injection is not a vaccine. It is a device, it does not fulfil the legal definition to be a vaccine. It is a bioweapon.”

Not only have we repeatedly debunked claims that Covid-19 vaccines are “devices”, but all four vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen) are authorised as vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

“What it [the vaccine] does is it goes into your body, it goes into your cells and into the ribosomes… When you come into contact with any of these things, these coronaviruses, you are going to stimulate an immune response and you are going to start attacking your own body.”

It’s not clear what is meant by an “immune response” which would lead to your body attacking itself. There is no evidence that the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines cause autoimmune diseases or other autoimmune responses. 

“This can render you infertile.”

We have previously debunked claims that the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility in women (Professor Jonathan Stoye, Virologist at the Francis Crick Institute, told Full Fact the possibility of a risk is “vanishingly small”) and they risk causing infertility in young men (evidence shows the vaccine may help protect male fertility).

Many other news outlets, fact checkers and health businesses have also dispelled claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility.

“[The vaccine contains a] nanobot, this sits in your body, it's a transmitter. It can transmit and receive signals and it will from the internet of things.”

Covid-19 vaccines do not contain micro-transmitters of any kind.

While the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines do use nanoparticles, this is just a generic term for very small particles that can be found in nature or can be man-made. These however are not “nanobots”. They don’t send data and cannot connect to WiFi.

Nanoparticles have been used to deliver medicines into the body since the 1990s.

In another section of the video, one of the protestors says over the microphone:

“Call up the Red Cross. Call up the Red Cross and ask them if you can give blood after you’ve taken this vaccine, your blood is tainted. The Red Cross don’t need your blood any more.”

This is wrong for several reasons.

Firstly, the British Red Cross is not responsible for managing blood donations in England, it’s NHS Blood and Transplant.

Secondly, you can give blood after having a vaccine. However, in England, you have to wait seven days from your vaccination or, if you experience side effects, 28 days after recovery from those side effects. NHS Blood and Transplant says it is a precautionary measure and that leaving a gap prevents side effects from being confused with other illnesses, making blood donation safer. 

The claim may be based on a falsehood recently repeated by The Stone Roses’ lead singer Ian Brown, that the Japanese Red Cross doesn’t accept blood donations after a vaccine.

This is also incorrect. The Japanese Red Cross only asks those who have been vaccinated to wait for 48 hours after being vaccinated to give blood.