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No VAIDS

Did Cambridge scientists "admit" that 25 percent of people vaccinated for COVID-19 now have "vaccine acquired immune deficiency syndrome"? No, that's not true: The scientific report that the claim is purportedly based on never mentions the term VAIDS or vaccine-acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which is not a recognized medical condition. Pfizer Media Relations stated that the online claim is "out of context."

The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by The People's Voice on December 9, 2023, titled "Cambridge Scientists Admit 25% of Vaccinated People Now Have VAIDS." The article opens:

Research scientists at the world-renowned Cambridge University in the UK have admitted that one in four vaccinated people have now developed an chronic immune deficiency response, also known as vaccine acquired immune deficiency syndrome (VAIDS).

This is what the article looked like on The People's Voice website at the time of writing:

(Source: The People's Voice screenshot taken on Wed Dec 13 16:56:23 2023 UTC)

The report

The People's Voice article says its information comes from a report (archived here) led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and published in Nature on December 6, 2023, titled "N1-methylpseudouridylation of mRNA causes +1 ribosomal frameshifting." A news release (archived here) also from December 6, 2023, summarized the report's findings:

In collaboration with researchers at the Universities of Kent, Oxford and Liverpool, the MRC Toxicology Unit team tested for evidence of the production of 'off-target' proteins in people who received the mRNA Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19. They found an unintended immune response occurred in one third of the 21 patients in the study who were vaccinated - but with no ill-effects, in keeping with the extensive safety data available on these COVID-19 vaccines.

The bottom line: While there were "unintended immune" responses, researchers observed "no ill-effects." The general concern surrounds future mRNA vaccines where such a response might decrease efficacy or increase toxicity, which was not the case with the COVID-19 shots.

Additionally, neither the report nor the summary mentions VAIDS. The World Health Organization (WHO), a global public health agency, states that VAIDS isn't real. Here's a post (archived here) from the WHO/Europe X account, addressing the topic:

✅Fact: #Vaccine Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (VAIDS) doesn't exist. There's NO evidence that #COVID19 vaccines cause immunodeficiency

⚠️Things aren't always what they seem online. Learn more about how you can protect yourself against false information 👇

-- WHO/Europe (@WHO_Europe) April 8, 2022

Dr. James Thaventhiran, a senior author of the report, endorses the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. In the Cambridge news release, he said:

Research has shown beyond doubt that mRNA vaccination against COVID-19 is safe. Billions of doses of the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines have been safely delivered, saving lives worldwide.

Pfizer

In a December 13, 2023, email to Lead Stories, Pfizer Media Relations said the claim in The People's Voice article is "out of context." Separately, the biopharmaceutical company said:

We welcome independent research and academic discourse to advance the science of mRNA technology. The COVID-19 pandemic provided the first opportunity for the use of mRNA platforms, and to date, hundreds of millions of doses of our Covid-19 vaccines have been administered globally, establishing a positive benefit-risk profile. We continue to advance mRNA research and, together with the scientific community, explore new applications for this promising platform to help prevent and treat the spectrum of human disease.

Food and Drug Administration

Cherie Duvall-Jones, a press officer at the FDA, provided the agency's response to the claims in the article. In a December 14, 2023, email, it said:

The claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause immunodeficiencies is false and misleading. Unfortunately, the misinformation about COVID-19 vaccine safety has caused some Americans to avoid getting the vaccines they need to be up to date. This has led to unnecessary death, severe illness and hospitalization. These tragic outcomes not only have a devastating effect on individuals and their families, but they also create a tremendous strain on our healthcare systems and clinicians, potentially compromising care for other patients.

The People's Voice

The People's Voice has a lengthy record of publishing false stories in the past. It describes itself as a resource "comprised of various web pages operated by Fact Checked Limited," but it has nothing to do with fact-checking.

As of this writing, its website contained a liability disclaimer, saying:

FACT CHECKED LIMITED AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED ON THE SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ALL SUCH INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED 'AS IS' WITHOUT WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND.

Read more

Additional Lead Stories fact checks of claims about COVID-19 vaccines can be found here.