Covid-19 vaccines still don’t contain graphene oxide

A post on Instagram claims graphene oxide is in vaccines and can cause clotting and myocardial issues among other ailments. The suggestion is that this refers to the Covid-19 vaccines. 

As we have written before, the Covid-19 vaccines currently in use do not contain graphene oxide. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency previously told Full Fact: “There is no graphene oxide in any of the authorised vaccines”.

Graphene oxide is a material with a number of uses within biotechnology and in other fields. There is evidence that it can be toxic in certain applications. 

The myth about graphene oxide in vaccines seems to have originated with a Spanish study claiming that, using transmission electron microscopy (a microscopy technique which allows particularly fine details and structures to be seen), a solution created from a vial of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine takes a similar form to graphene oxide. 

However there are many issues with this research, which has not been published in a scientific journal or peer reviewed.

Firstly, the provenance of the vial is unknown. We don’t know whether it was a vial of the vaccine, and fact checkers Health Feedback report that the person who sent the vial to the researcher is known to spread anti-vaccine content. 

Secondly, the study says the findings are not “conclusive evidence” for the presence of graphene oxide in the vaccine. 

While the researcher is a professor at the University of Almeria, the university has distanced itself from the work, saying it is “unofficial report by a university professor about an analysis of a sample of unknown origin with total lack of traceability”.