It is misleading that Brazil purchased a Covid vaccine that is banned in other countries

It is not true that Brazil purchased vaccines that were banned in several countries, contrary to what the post states. The first doses sold by the Moderna laboratory were reallocated to different audiences throughout the campaigns, but never excluded from the actions. The current version of the vaccine is approved by Anvisa and recommended by the WHO.

The content was investigated by Folha de S. Paulo and Band News FM, and verified by the newspapers Tribuna do Norte, Estadão, SBT, SBT News, Correio and O Dia, in partnership for the Comprova Project.

Investigated content: Messages on X and Telegram about the Brazilian government’s purchase of more than 12 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. Post states that “numerous countries” have already banned the vaccine “due to serious problems”.

Where was it published: X and Telegram.

Conclusion of Comprova: Post is misleading when stating that Brazil has just purchased a vaccine against Covid-19 that is banned in numerous countries. The federal government announced the acquisition of 12.5 million doses from the pharmaceutical company Moderna on April 19. According to the Ministry of Health, the batch is part of the most up-to-date immunization agents against the disease, approved by Anvisa and recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The vaccine that the person responsible for the post refers to is the original version (bivalent), which had its target audience changed in some countries due to adverse effects. However, the Moderna vaccine has not been banned.

As the post itself shows, in Sweden, for example, the government suspended the vaccine for people under 30 in October 2021. But what the post does not inform is that the country’s health bodies once again offered the vaccine in October 2021. 2022, with new guidelines for children over six years old.

Another example of a country that would have banned the vaccine, according to the post, was Japan, but this did not happen. In August 2021, the government suspended the use of 1.63 million doses after “reports of contaminants in some vials”. Contrary to what the post suggests, no safety or efficacy issues were identified and the suspension was just a precaution, according to Japanese authorities and Moderna.

As serious adverse reactions, the leaflet for the current version of the vaccine cites cases of myocarditis and pericarditis, conditions that affect the heart. Still, the risk of developing these diseases, according to the pharmaceutical company, is very rare and occurs in less than 0.01% of patients who use the medicine. Most have recovered, but there are fatal cases, according to the laboratory. The most common reactions are swelling, headache, muscle pain, nausea and diarrhea.

The publication also features a video translated from English in which doctor Robert Malone talks about the risks of the Moderna vaccine to North American congressmen. The session was recorded in Washington in 2023 and released by Republican Marjorie Taylor Green, publicly anti-vaccine and whose X profile has already been taken down for sharing misinformation about Covid-19. Malone is also known for spreading false information about vaccines and has been debunked several times.

Misleading, for Comprova, is content taken from the original context and used in another in such a way that its meaning changes; that uses inaccurate data or that leads to an interpretation different from the intention of its author; content that confuses, with or without the deliberate intent to cause harm.

Publication reach: Comprova investigates suspicious content with the greatest reach on social media. On X, the publication had, until April 30, more than 118.8 thousand views and, on Telegram, 4 thousand.

Sources we consulted: Links from the New York Post, BMJ and The Straits Times websites, cited by the author, the Ministry of Health and the WHO.

Moderna says vaccine is up to date

One of the arguments in the post that tries to discredit the vaccine is that the current dose produced by Moderna does not protect humans from the coronavirus variant in circulation, which is not true. The publication shares another post from an infectious disease doctor claiming that the vaccine does not combat the JN.1 lineage, a descendant of XBB and which has been increasing exponentially among those infected.

In December 2023, the WHO published a guideline on what the composition of immunizers should be to monitor the evolution of the virus. In the note, the organization maintained the recommendation to use a lineage descending from the XBB.1 variant, such as XBB.1.5, as a vaccine antigen. The guidance had already been applied by laboratories since May last year. According to the WHO, research indicates that vaccines with this composition had positive results in neutralizing JN.1. The entity considers that the data is still limited.

When releasing information about the agreement reached with the Brazilian government, Moderna clarified, in an official note, that the pharmaceutical company “generated pre-clinical and clinical data on its monovalent vaccine candidate XBB.1.5 showing an immunological response against XBB sub-lineages and strains currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 virus, including JN.1”. In other words, the vaccine showed benefits in combating the variant in circulation.

In a text published on the Ministry of Health website, infectious disease doctor and doctor in Epidemiology Sérgio de Andrade Nishioka explained that all vaccines currently used protect against severe forms of Covid-19, regardless of the lineage. “New variants such as JN.1, however, are more transmissible than the previously more prevalent variants, and can infect and cause disease in people previously immunized by the vaccine and/or previous infection.” All vaccines approved by Anvisa showed effective and safe results; This is the main prevention strategy.

Why Comprova investigated this publication: Comprova monitors suspicious content published on social networks and messaging applications about public policies, health, climate change and elections at the federal level and opens investigations into those publications that have greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp +55 11 97045-4984.

Other checks on the topic: Several publications with false information about vaccines were checked by Comprova, including that a Cambridge study proved that people vaccinated against Covid-19 acquired AIDS and that the vaccine causes irreversible damage to DNA.