| schema:text
| - SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Claim: According to Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Lapado, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can infect human DNA and cause cancer.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a Facebook post on February 8, which has accumulated 843 reactions, 306 comments, and 828 shares as of writing. The Facebook page has over 1 million followers.
The post author cited concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines raised by Ladapo in 2024. According to the post, Ladapo had written the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and found that the agency had not assessed the possible risk of “DNA fragments” in the vaccines contaminating human DNA.
“Kung baga wala silang pag-aaral na ginawa kung anong mangyari kung itong mga mRNAs ay makasira sa mga DNA ng mga tao,” the post author added.
(They had no study on what could happen should these mRNAs infect human DNA.)
The post author added that the health risks posed by the vaccines have led some US states to halt their use.
The facts: Health experts have debunked the claims by Florida’s surgeon general that were mentioned in the Facebook post. While there has been pushback against the vaccines in some US states, no statewide ban on mRNA vaccines has been instituted, contrary to the post’s claim.
In a joint letter in March 2023, the FDA and the US Centers for Disease Control stated that there is no evidence of increased risk of death following mRNA vaccines and that having up-to-date vaccinations saves lives compared to those who went unvaccinated.
The joint letter asserted that the benefits of the vaccines far outweigh their known and potential risks and that the vaccines are actively monitored for their safety.
Health officials and experts have debunked Lapado’s remarks, with Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health, telling the Washington Post: “We’ve seen this pattern from Dr. Ladapo that every few months he raises some new concern and it quickly gets debunked.”
Ladapo was previously alleged to have made several false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and altered key findings in a state-driven study on vaccine safety.
The surgeon general’s colleagues at the University of Florida have accused the health official of sullying the name of the university.
Debunked: FactCheck.org, The New York Times, and The Guardian have all reported and debunked the Florida surgeon general’s claims. – Ramon Franco Verano/Rappler.com
Ramon Franco Verano is a graduate of Rappler’s volunteer program. He is a fourth year History student at the University of Santo Tomas. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)