Last Updated on September 14, 2023 by Aditi Gangal
Quick Take
A video on social media claims Covid vaccine spreads human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We fact-checked and found the claim to be False.
The Claim
A video on Instagram shows a lawyer named Todd Callender claiming Covid vaccines contain HIV and taking the jab will infect the person with the virus.
Fact Check
Do Covid vaccines contain HIV?
Some have. THIP MEDIA previously fact-checked Covid vaccines increasing the risk of HIV infection to show that some Covid vaccines contain recombinant adenovirus type-5 (Ad5) vectors. However, this has raised incorrect speculations around whether Covid vaccines cause HIV.
Covid vaccines authorized by the World Health Organization do not contain Ad5. Our research found that Sputnik V and CanSino vaccines have Ad5. Also, COVISHIELD has a recombinant and replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector that responds to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein to begin the process of immunization.
Is Covid vaccine spreading the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)?
No. Covid vaccines are not spreading HIV among the recipients. No evidence confirms that Covid-19 vaccine is contagious and spreading HIV.
Todd Callender has been in the news for quite some time for spreading disinformation on Covid vaccines. He previously claimed NASA coined the term human borg genesis for genetically modified humans (in this case through covid vaccines) to prove Covid vaccinated people are no longer humans.
Also, no data proves that COVID vaccines increase the risk of HIV infection. However, people with Ad5 COVID vaccines, exposed to HIV through sex or drug use might have an increased susceptibility to HIV infection. This only applies to vaccines that contain Ad5, not all COVID vaccines contain Ad5.