Fact Check: Claim By US Cardiologist That Covid Vaccine Spike Proteins Cause Heart Damage Is False
Cardiologist Peter McCullough, in a viral video, claims that the spike protein from Covid vaccines causes damage to the heart and that mRNA is 'stuck' in the body.
The Verdict: [False]
- Scientific evidence shows that the mRNA from the COVID-19 vaccines does not get stuck in the body, and myocarditis is a rare side effect.
Context
In a video shared on Facebook, known COVID-19 vaccine misinformation spreader and cardiologist Peter McCullough claims that the spike protein from the COVID-19 vaccines is in the heart and that messenger RNA (mRNA) is "stuck there." He claims that this causes damage to the heart.
He also claims that he was involved in research that evaluated autopsy findings in deaths after COVID-19 vaccination, which found that 73.9 percent of those deaths were due to the vaccine.
In Fact
The claim suggests that mRNA gets stuck in the body or heart. However, according to the CDC, after mRNA has taught the body to create a spike protein and a piece of it is made, "our cells break down the mRNA and remove it, leaving the body as waste."
Various scientific studies have also observed that after lasting for a length of time within the body, the mRNA is eventually broken down. One 2022 study published in the journal Biomedicines found that vaccine mRNA remained in circulation in the blood for at least two weeks, but it began to decrease after 4 days.
Another study published in January 2023 in the journal Short Communications observed the blood of 108 patients with Hepatitis C, finding that mRNA from the vaccine was present in the blood of 10 patients for up to 28 days after vaccination. While both studies have detected that mRNA can last within the blood for a certain length of time, they have also observed a decrease in mRNA over this period. Neither of these studies mentioned any detrimental or adverse effects due to their observations.
Furthermore, no credible evidence could be found to suggest that mRNA is "stuck" in the heart.
As explained by Healthline, spike proteins are part of the coronavirus, which uses the proteins to attach to and enter cells. mRNA vaccines teach the body to make these spike proteins so that the immune system recognizes them and creates an immune response to protect against the virus. According to Nebraska Medicine, this spike protein is unique to COVID-19, and the antibodies created against the spike protein won't harm the body. The spike proteins last up to a few weeks in the body before the immune system destroys them.
Adverse effects that affect the heart, such as myocarditis and pericarditis, are rare following COVID-19 vaccination. Both the CDC and the U.K. Government have stated that myocarditis caused by the vaccine is rare and that, in most cases, the effects are mild, with patients recovering quickly. As explained by cardiovascular charity The British Heart Foundation, COVID-19 itself is more likely to cause myocarditis than the vaccine.
The research that McCullough uses to claim that the vaccine caused 73.9 percent of deaths post-vaccination is flawed. The research was a pre-print, meaning it was early-stage and not peer-reviewed. This pre-print was taken down in July 2023 from "preprints with the Lancet" because "the study methodology does not support the study's conclusions." Logically Facts has previously fact-checked this pre-print and found that the study's methodology did not support conclusions of a causal link between vaccination and death.
McCullough's past false claims about the COVID-19 vaccines have led the American Board of Internal Medicine to recommend that his board certification be revoked. McCullough is also the Chief Scientific Officer for The Wellness Company, an alternative medicine website that sells supplements that allegedly help protect against spike proteins from the COVID-19 vaccines.
The Verdict
Scientific evidence shows that the mRNA from the COVID-19 vaccines does not get stuck in the body. Myocarditis is considered a rare side effect of vaccination. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.
This report first appeared on logicallyfacts.com, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement.
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