While the impact of COVID-19 on day-to-day life in the U.S. has faded, the misleading narratives on the disease and its treatment still find space in public life and online spaces.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was accused of spreading "fallacious" information surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and its origins. The Georgia Republican had accused the government of being able to track down the person behind the leaked Pentagon documents but not the origins of the virus.
Now, new COVID vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have become the target of conspiratorial rumor, suggesting regulators had essentially admitted that they "f***** up" on the original formula.
The Claim
A tweet by former UFC fighter Jake Shields, posted on April 19, 2023 and viewed 2.3 million times, claimed that the FDA had "banned" COVID vaccines and that "Now you can only get a single does [sic] with half the [sic] as much mRNA as the original shot."
"This is their way is admitting they f***** up with out actually saying they fucked up," Shields added.
The Facts
The notion that the FDA has "banned the covid vaccines" and that dosages now provide "half...as much mRNA as the original shot" is misleading.
While the monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States, as per recent FDA guidance, this is not to say they were unsafe as using the word "banned" may imply.
Instead, the formula has been changed to account for both the original virus strain and new strains that have mutated from it.
COVID vaccines are based around Messenger RNA (mRNA), a molecule that essentially teaches human cells how to trigger an immune response to the disease.
This has been mistakenly associated with DNA, and used to propagate false claims that vaccines can alter one's genetic makeup.
In traditional vaccines, a piece of a virus, known as an "antigen," would be injected into the body to force the immune system to make antibodies to fight off future infection. But mRNA-based methods do not use a live virus, and cannot give someone COVID.
Instead, mRNA vaccines give cells the instructions to make a "spike" protein also found on the surface of the virus that causes COVID. The body kickstarts its immune response by creating the antibodies needed to combat those specific virus proteins.
Once the spike protein is created, the cell breaks down the instructions provided by the mRNA molecule, leaving the human immune system prepared to combat infection. The mRNA vaccines are not a medicine—nor a cure—but a preventative measure.
Newsweek spoke to the FDA, which clarified that far from the original shots being "banned" or the vaccines containing "half" the mRNA in previous doses, the new shots had been developed to combat new strains of COVID that have developed since.
Crucially, the new bivalent vaccines each contain an mRNA component that corresponds to the original virus strain and "an mRNA component corresponding to the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant", a spokesperson told Newsweek.
Omicron subvariants continue to be tracked globally including, most recently, XBB1.1.16, known as "Arcturus", which was upgraded to a "variant of interest" by the World Health Organization in April 2023.
"The FDA carefully reviewed the available epidemiologic evidence, scientific publications, and data provided by sponsors indicating that a single bivalent vaccine dose provided to individuals previously infected with COVID-19 provides an immune response equal to, or superior to, two doses of the original vaccine," they added.
"As detailed in our review memoranda, compelling evidence is now available that most of the U.S. population 5 years of age and older (including over 95% of adults) has antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, either from vaccination or infection that can serve as a foundation for the protection provided by one dose of the bivalent vaccines.
"Thus, data support simplifying the use of the authorized mRNA bivalent COVID-19 vaccines and the agency believes that this approach will help encourage future vaccination, particularly among those who have not chosen to be vaccinated to date."
For further, independent, clarification, Newsweek spoke to experts affiliated with the Science Media Centre, a U.K. organization dedicated to providing evidence-based information about science and engineering through the media.
Adam Finn, professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, reiterated the FDA's review of data, noting that the vaccine contained the same amount of mRNA overall.
"The bivalent vaccines have two different versions of the S protein instead of 1, hence the name, —but the same amount of mRNA—so half the amount for each S protein but the same amount overall.
"They are primarily intended for use as boosters in people with pre-existing immunity due to previous vaccination, infection or both."
Robin Shattock, professor of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, told Newsweek that a vaccine that provided immune responses to both the original virus and new variants made "total sense.
"The bivalent Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is designed to boost immune responses to both original virus and new variants, specifically Omicron BA.4-5 sub-variants," Shattock said.
"It contains the same amount of total RNA, but half of the vaccine, 15 micrograms, targets the original virus strain and the other half, 15 micrograms, targets Omicron (BA.4-5).
"This makes total sense as it's been updated to keep abreast of how the virus is changing.
"As these are mixed in the same vial it wouldn't be possible to give just a half dose of either.
"The total RNA dose, 30 micrograms, has been kept the same, rather than going to 60 micrograms, to build on the extensive safety data of a 30 microgram dose of Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA."
Newsweek has contacted a representative of Jake Shields via email for comment.
The Ruling
Needs Context.
While the original COVID shots are no longer authorized, that doesn't mean that they have been "banned" in the manner that Shields describes.
Instead, the new bivalent vaccine provides a dosage that targets both the original strain of the virus and more recent strains. It is not half the dosage, as Shields states.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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