The claim: COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips or other tracking devices, cause magnetic reaction
As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, albeit slower compared to previous weeks, and the age eligibility expands to include children 12 and older, one social media post is revisiting fears stirred early on during the pandemic.
The May 10 Instagram post from an account called Keep_Canada_Free shows a video of an unidentified masked woman demonstrating with a small silver magnet that appears to stick to one arm, where she supposedly received the Pfizer shot, but not the other, unvaccinated arm.
“You go figure it out. We’re chipped,” she tells her viewers.
The 25-second video has had over 20,000 views on Instagram and has been shared on social media platforms such as Twitter, where a resized version posted on May 8 also includes the claim the vaccine has “magnetic reactions.”
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It’s unclear whether the woman was actually vaccinated or used a real magnet – USA TODAY reached out to Keep_Canada_Free for comment – but one thing is clear: The COVID-19 vaccines don’t cause magnetic reactions or contain tracking devices.
Ties to conspiracy theories
The claim the COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips originates from a conspiracy theory claiming Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is behind a global scheme to secretly implant and track billions of people.
Gates has repeatedly denied the claim, and USA TODAY, as well as other independent fact-checking organizations, have found no evidence to support it.
Microchips using radio-frequency identification, or RFID, technology were also purportedly contained within the COVID-19 vaccines. The claim grew from news of a partnership between the federal government and ApiJect Systems to create a high-speed supply chain for pre-filled syringes with RFID-tracking capabilities, USA TODAY reported.
The Connecticut-based company was awarded $1.3 billion in May 2020 to make its single-use syringes compatible for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, but the technology is still in “testing and regulatory reviews,” according to NBC News in April.
While pharmacies, hospitals, health agencies and private providers do employ electronic health records and other digital databases to track who has been immunized, there are no such technologies inherent in any of the vaccines, both Pfizer and Moderna told USA TODAY.
