Claim: AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines contain recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus, or monkeypox.

Question

Tweet says: Who is surprised that after millions of people have been injected with genetically modified chimp virus, there is now an outbreak of monkeypox?

Answer 1

This is not monkeypox. The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a chimpanzee adenovirus vaccine vector. This is a harmless, weakened adenovirus that usually causes the common cold in chimpanzees. It has been genetically changed so that it is impossible for it to grow in humans. Chimpanzee adenoviral vectors are a very well-studied vaccine type, having been used safely in thousands of subjects.

Misinformation

Sources:

https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-does-the-vaxzevria-astrazeneca-vaccine-contain-animal-dna#:~:text=The%20AstraZeneca%20vaccine%20uses%20a,it%20to%20grow%20in%20humans.

 

Answer 2

Monkeypox was first noticed in monkeys, but it comes from rodents:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/health/monkeypox-attacks-who.html

Also - chimpanzees are not monkeys anyway. Evolutionarily speaking, they are as far from monkeys as people are.

Category - Attempted disinformation

Comments

Good response. It would be even better if you also added evidence and an explanation on how the vaccine does not contain monkeypox. You did a nice job of defining its origins though!