Quick Take
Triggered by a podcast by an ex-employee of Pfizer, a number of social media users have started posting that, “The coronavirus vaccines are 50 times more likely to kill a child than COVID-19 itself.” We fact-checked and found that this is a conspiracy theory. Due to the lack of any supporting data or facts, we term this claim as False.
The Claim
The claim originated after Dr. Michael Yeadon, an ex-employee of Pfizer, appeared on the podcast in June where he claimed that coronavirus vaccines were 50 times more likely to kill a child than COVID-19 itself.
An archived version of the podcast is available here and a part of it is embedded below.
The podcast triggered a series of posts from social media users who shared and reshared the podcast. Such posts can be seen here, here, here, and here.
Fact Check
It is difficult to fact-check such random predictions as such, especially when there is little data to support the claim. In the US, children above 12 years have been started to get vaccinated and the CDC data do not show any major mishap so far.
In addition, Dr. Yeadon had been notoriously famous from the start of the pandemic for making predictions that were all proved wrong.
Below are some of the past comments made by Dr. Yeadon, all of which has been proved wrong –
- Covid-19 is not a new illness and is caused by a virus that’s like other ‘harmless’ viruses
- Covid-19 is not a threat or fatal to anyone below the age of 60
- The Covid-19 pandemic is over
Dr. Yeadon’s Linkedin Profile suggests that he quit Pfizer in 2011 and hence any internal knowledge about the vaccine should not be possible.
Below is a discussion THIP Media hosted a few days ago on the safety of the vaccine for adolescents.
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