A popular social media account with nearly 600,000 followers shared an image of what is allegedly a blood clot removed from the lungs of a man vaccinated against COVID-19. The man claims he is certain that “Pfizer jabs” landed him in the ER. Notably, in other posts, the man admits that he believes he had an issue with blood clots prior to the pandemic and claims to have had a serious COVID-19 infection that resulted in pneumonia last year.
Alarming images of allegedly vaccine-linked blood clots circulate every few months, often receiving millions of engagements. Debunking messaging may emphasize that these viral images are designed to elicit a strong emotional response and are not evidence of vaccine dangers. In several instances, these images are from before the pandemic or are not blood clots at all. Messaging may also explain that blood clots have been reported as an extremely rare adverse reaction to two non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and that a COVID-19 infection increases blood clot risk far more than any COVID-19 vaccine.
