Does a Mayo Clinic-trained pathologist explain how COVID-19 vaccine "spike proteins" are "killing you"? No, that's not true: mRNA COVID vaccines teach the body to make the distinctive spike proteins, which the immune system quickly identifies, attacks and destroys because it recognizes them as not part of the human body, thus preparing itself to ward off COVID if the patient is exposed. At most, spike proteins last a couple of weeks in our systems.
The claim appeared in a video posted to BitChute (archived here) on September 12, 2021, under the title "MAYO CLINIC-TRAINED PATHOLOGIST EXPLAINS HOW COVID VAX 'SPIKE PROTEINS' ARE KILLING YOU." It opened:
'The spike protein IS the toxin' - Dr. Ryan Cole, MD
This is what the post looked like on BitChute on November 11, 2021:
(Source: BitChute screenshot taken on Thurs Nov 11 18:13:53 UTC 2021)
The person making the claims, Dr. Ryan Cole, runs a medical testing lab near Boise, Idaho, where he was a leading opponent of COVID vaccination during that state's late 2021 surge in cases. Cole is board certified in dermatopathology, a medical specialty in which doctors are trained to do the lab work and analysis dermatologists and other specialists require for treatment of cancer and other skin disorders.
Cole is often described as "Mayo Clinic trained," but the famed Minnesota medical center distanced itself from Cole's anti-COVID-vaccine claims in a September 21, 2021, email to Lead Stories. Mayo spokesman Bob Nellis wrote:
Mayo Clinic is aware of claims made by Dr. Ryan Cole regarding vaccines. Dr. Cole was trained at Mayo Clinic but is not a Mayo Clinic employee. His views do not represent Mayo Clinic.
Cole made his case against COVID vaccines in the BitChute video at a White Coat Summit held in August 2021. America's Frontline Doctors (AFLDS), an anti-vaccine activist organization that Lead Stories has written about in previous debunks, has hosted several of these events.
At 1:03 in the video, Cole claims this is what happens when a COVID vaccine is injected:
We did studies in lab animals. In the lab animals, just injecting the spike with no body of the virus, the spike induced the same disease as COVID-19 induced. The same lung disease. The same vascular disease. The same heart disease. The same brain disease.
The spike is the toxin. So again, why are we injecting something into the human body that is the toxin? It is the toxin. It causes the disease. This isn't a vaccine.
Medical experts say the COVID vaccines are not toxic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Myths and Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines page says the shots are safe:
Can a COVID-19 vaccine make me sick with COVID-19?
No. None of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the United States contain the live virus that causes COVID-19. This means that a COVID-19 vaccine cannot make you sick with COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccines teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. Sometimes this process can cause symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and are signs that the body is building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19. Learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC)) website says spike proteins don't stay in the body the way Cole claims they do. Its findings are in an article published to the UNMC website on July 2, 2021, entitled "How long do mRNA and spike proteins last in the body?"
Vaccines generally work by introducing a piece of a virus or bacteria into your body so you can develop long-lasting immunity to the pathogen. While the piece introduced by the vaccine rapidly fades away, your body's immune system remembers what it saw. When it encounters the virus or bacteria in the real world it mounts a strong immune response preventing or decreasing the severity of infection.
Some have expressed concern that the spike protein or other parts of the mRNA vaccines build up in the body, particularly in the ovaries or the brain. ... There is no evidence that any mRNA or protein accumulates in any organ.
At 3:10 in the video, Cole goes on to say that the spike proteins from the vaccines circulate in the body long after injection and continue to do damage. But the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) estimates that the spike proteins that are generated by COVID vaccines last up to a few weeks (this is the seventh question and answer under "Mechanisms of COVID-19 Vaccines").
Dr. Hank Bernstein of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia agrees. He talks about this at the 1:00 mark in a March 16, 2021, video on the hospital website:
Fortunately, mRNA has a very short lifespan. It stays in the cytoplasm, attaches to the ribosome, passes on its message and then gets destroyed. It doesn't enter the nucleus of the cell and it does not alter DNA. Since our cells are continuously producing proteins, mRNA is broken down fairly quickly ... The cell breaks down the mRNA into harmless pieces and gets rid of it.
