No evidence Pfizer vaccine is connected to the monkeypox outbreak – Austin American-Statesman

Madison Czopek, PolitiFact.com| Austin American-Statesman

How are monkeypox cases, COVID-19 vaccines and shingles infections connected? They are not.

But if you believe claims circulating online, they are linked to a group of global elites that isusingthe coronavirus "as a tool to reorganize global societies and economies to their benefit at the expense of ordinary people, with the ultimate goal of a global totalitarian regime," according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Those claims are part of "The Great Reset" conspiracy theory, which PolitiFact hasrepeatedlydebunked. Other news outlets have alsodismissedthe idea asunsubstantiated.

One article pushing the narrative that monkeypox is tied to this conspiracy theory appeared on The Expos, a U.K.-focused blog that has repeatedlyspreadmisinformationabout thepandemicandCOVID-19 vaccine.

"Monkeypox is only circulating in countries where the Pfizer vaccine has been distributed and is being used to advance a Technocratic Great Reset," read aJuly 24Expos headline.

The article claimed that the monkeypox outbreak is actually shingles cases caused by Pfizers COVID-19 vaccines.

"Were seeing the consequences of injecting millions of people with an experimental mRNA injection that causes untold damage to the immune system," the article said. "And public health authorities are now scrambling to cover up COVID-19 vaccine-induced shingles and using it as an opportunity to advance their technocratic agenda of implementing The Great Reset."

The article was flagged as part of Facebooks efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.

Available evidence directly rebutsthe articles claims.

Pfizers mRNA vaccine, marketed as Comirnaty, in August 2021 became thefirst COVID-19 vaccineto achieve full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Millions of people have received the two-dose Pfizer vaccine, which is asafeand effective way to prevent COVID-19.

In the seven days after vaccination, it is common to experiencemild side effectsincluding fever, chills, fatigue or headaches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More severe side effects including severe allergic reactions or myocarditis and pericarditis (especially for males ages 12 to 39) arerarebut can happen.

Pfizer told PolitiFact it had agreements to provide its vaccine to more than 140 countries.

As of July 28, cases of monkeypox have been reported in 77 countries, including 71 countries that have not historically reported monkeypox, the CDCreported.

Amapon Pfizers website shows where it has shipped vaccines, and a map on the CDCs site also showsmonkeypox casesaround the world.

Comparing these maps shows that the articles claim that monkeypox is "only circulating" where the Pfizer vaccine was distributed is false.

Venezuela reported one case of monkeypox as of July 28, but Pfizers map does not show any shipments of COVID-19 vaccines. Venezuela has approved the use of Russian COVID-19 vaccines Sputnik V and Sputnik Light, Cubas Abdala and Soberana COVID-19 vaccines and the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines from China, according to theU.S. Embassy in Venezuela.

India reported four cases of monkeypox as of July 28. Pfizer has not sent COVID-19 vaccines to India, according to its map last updated July 3.

India is currently distributing four vaccines, per theBBC: the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, Corbevax, Covaxin and Sputnik V.

Also, not all the countries that received Pfizer vaccines have reported monkeypox cases. As of July 28, for example, Indonesia has not reported any monkeypox cases, but Pfizer has shipped nearly 69 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine there.

The CDC tracksadverse events reportedafter COVID-19 vaccinations, and has not indicated that the vaccines cause shingles.

Nearly 10,000 cases of shingles have been reported to the CDC and FDAsVaccine Adverse Event Reporting Systemafter doses of the Pfizer vaccine. This does not mean the vaccines caused shingles.

VAERS is anopen system, meaning anyone can submit a report to the database, "regardless of seriousness, and regardless of how likely the vaccine may have been to have caused the adverse event," per theCDC. On one occasion, a doctor said hed submitted a report that a flu vaccine had turned himinto the Hulk; that report was accepted and remained in the database for some time, he said.

Pfizer said it has not seen data that suggests its COVID-19 vaccine causes shingles.

Monkeypox and shingles cause skin rashes, but they look different on the body.

Shingles causes a painful rash that typically "occurs in a single stripe around either the left or the right side of the body" or on one side of the face, according to theCDC. In contrast, monkeypoxcauses"a rash that can look like pimples or blisters that appears on the face, inside the mouth, and on other parts of the body, like the hands, feet, chest, genitals, or anus."

The diseases are also caused by different viruses: Monkeypox is caused by an orthopoxvirus; shingles iscausedby reactivation of the varicella zoster virus that also causes chickenpox.

A blog post claimed that monkeypox "is only circulating in countries where the Pfizer vaccine has been distributed and is being used to advance a Technocratic Great Reset."

"The Great Reset" is an unsubstantiated and widely debunked conspiracy theory. Monkeypox has been reported in countries that dont have Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine. And there are countries that received Pfizers vaccine that have not yet reported monkeypox cases.

We rate this claim False.

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No evidence Pfizer vaccine is connected to the monkeypox outbreak - Austin American-Statesman