A post with over 8 million views and 100,000 engagements promotes a study that claims to have found that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines contain “unauthorized” nanoparticles that self-assemble into complex structures that cause blood clots, turbo cancer, and autoimmune disease. Several high-follower anti-vaccine accounts are circulating the study.
The level of engagement on the source increases the claim’s risk. Messaging may highlight that the paper is published in a controversial journal founded by anti-vaccine figures with no expertise in vaccine science and that the journal’s editorial board has ties to a prominent anti-vaccine organization. Emphasizing that mRNA vaccines contain lipid (fat) nanoparticles that deliver mRNA to the cells is recommended, as is explaining that there is no evidence that these particles are harmful.
