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In this March 18, 2021 file photo, syringes are filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up site in New York. (AP) In this March 18, 2021 file photo, syringes are filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up site in New York. (AP)

In this March 18, 2021 file photo, syringes are filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop-up site in New York. (AP)

Monique Curet
By Monique Curet January 24, 2022

COVID-19 vaccines do not contain graphene, are not experimental and have published ingredients

If Your Time is short

COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any form of graphene.

The vaccines are not experimental. They have undergone months of clinical testing; data shows they are both safe and effective; and they have been safely administered to hundreds of millions of Americans.

The full list of ingredients for all three vaccines approved for use in the U.S. — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — has been shared by manufacturers. 

 

A viral video includes a laundry list of previously debunked claims about COVID-19 vaccines, offered by people known for spreading misinformation.

A Jan. 22 Facebook post has a caption that says, "What Is In The mRNA Vaccines? You need to watch this video!," with a link to a 14-minute-long video. The Facebook post was shared by Ben Swann, a self-described journalist who has spread pandemic-related misinformation in the past.

Those speaking in the video say a German doctor discovered that the COVID-19 vaccines include graphene oxide or graphene hydroxide. One of the speakers also says, "Because these injections are experimental and they're only being used under the EUA, we do not know the full list of ingredients that's in them. No one knows."

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

All of the claims have been thoroughly debunked.

COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any form of graphene, according to multiple fact-checks.

The vaccines are not experimental. They have undergone months of clinical testing; data shows they are both safe and effective; and they have been safely administered to hundreds of millions of Americans.

And the full list of ingredients for all three vaccines approved for use in the U.S. — Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — has been shared by manufacturers.

Graphene oxide claims

In the video, Jeremy Slayden, a former professional baseball player, makes several false statements, including around the 20-second mark when he says there was "a German doctor, Andreas Noack, who was murdered last week after he reported that graphene oxide was actually in the vaccines" — a claim PolitiFact has rated False. Slayden ultimately asked the panel what is in the vaccines.

At the 2:17 mark, Dr. Larry Pavlevsky, a pediatrician who has opposed vaccines, addresses the question, saying that the German doctor, Noack, "found that it wasn’t graphene oxide that was in it, it was graphene hydroxide," which "breaks apart in the bloodstream and causes razor blade cuts" to the lining of blood vessels.

Featured Fact-check

COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any form of graphene.

A Pfizer spokesperson in October confirmed that while graphene oxide is used in some vaccines, it is not used at Pfizer and is not in its COVID-19 vaccine. A full list of ingredients for all the vaccines is available on the CDC website..

‘Experimental’ vaccine and ingredients

Regarding Slayden’s question about what is in the vaccines, Pavlevsky answered "Because these injections are experimental and they're only being used under the EUA, we do not know the full list of ingredients that's in them. No one knows."

The vaccines are not experimental. They were tested in clinical trials with tens of thousands of participants, and drug makers submitted reports on the outcomes and effects on every participant, PolitFact reported. The vaccines have been safely administered to hundreds of millions of Americans.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine for those 16 and older.

Also, the Emergency Use Authorization that Pavlevsky referenced is only issued after a comprehensive review of the trial data. "Clinical trial results and other requirements for emergency use are little different from what is required for final approval," PolitiFact reported.

Despite Pavlevsky’s assertion that "we do not know the full list of ingredients," those lists have been published by manufacturers.

Our ruling

A Facebook post links to a video that says a German doctor discovered the COVID-19 vaccines include graphene oxide or graphene hydroxide. A speaker in the video also says, "Because these injections are experimental and they're only being used under the EUA, we do not know the full list of ingredients that's in them. No one knows."

COVID-19 vaccines do not contain any form of graphene. They are not experimental. And the full list of ingredients has been published by manufacturers.

We rate this claim False. 

 

Our Sources

Bloomberg, "More Than 9.92 Billion Shots Given: Covid-19 Tracker," Jan. 24, 2022

Click on Detroit, "Hearing over Michigan bill to ban vaccine, mask mandates filled with misinformation, conspiracy theories, outright lies," Aug. 20, 2021

Facebook post, Dec. 18, 2021

Facebook post, Jan. 22, 2022

Facebook profile, accessed Jan. 24, 2022

Facebook profile, accessed Jan. 23, 2022

Insider, "This New York doctor has been publicly urging parents not to vaccinate their children in the midst of a measles outbreak. Why is he still allowed to practice medicine?," May 31, 2019

NPR, "While COVID still rages, anti-vaccine activists will gather for a big conference," Oct. 22, 2021

PolitiFact, "Instagram post overlooks FDA sign-off on COVID-19 vaccines," March 31, 2021

PolitiFact, "German chemist was not killed by ‘government operatives’ after revealing ‘secret’ about vaccine," Dec. 10, 2021

PolitiFact, "No, a CDC-WHO study does not prove that masks do not prevent spread of COVID-19," July 31, 2020

PolitiFact, "No evidence of ‘graphene oxide’ that’s ‘toxic’ in Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine," July 8, 2021

PolitiFact, "Seven spooky things that people say are in the COVID-19 vaccines but definitely aren’t," Oct. 28, 2021

Reuters, "Fact Check-COVID-19 vaccines do not contain graphene oxide," July 23, 2021

Sovren, "What is in the mRNA vaccines?" Jan. 22, 2022 

U.S. Food & Drug Administration, FACT SHEET FOR THE JANSSEN COVID-19 VACCINE, Updated Jan. 11, 2022

U.S. Food & Drug Administration, FACT SHEET FOR MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINE, Updated Jan. 7, 2022 

U.S. Food & Drug Administration, VACCINE INFORMATION FACT SHEET FOR PFIZER-BIONTECH COVID-19 VACCINE, Updated Jan. 19, 2022

U.S. Food & Drug Administration, "FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine," Aug. 23, 2021




 

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COVID-19 vaccines do not contain graphene, are not experimental and have published ingredients

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