Tag: spike protein

Two prescription pill bottles labeled Eltroxin (100 mcg) and Synthroid (88 mcg), both containing levothyroxine tablets, are placed side by side on a gray surface.

What do mRNA vaccines, Synthroid, and pharmaceuticals have in common (according to MAHA)?

If you want to understand why Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has halted $500 million in funding for mRNA vaccine development, look no further than Synthroid and herbal medicines.

/ August 18, 2025
Shedding vaccine COVID-19

Antivax quacks are continuing to make up fantastical biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding”

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed why antivax quacks' claimed biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" reminded me of homeopaths. Confabulation about fantastical scientific mechanisms continues, courtesy of "A Midwestern Doctor."

/ January 29, 2024
Pfizer COVID vaccine

“New school” antivax goes old school as Byram Bridle asks if COVID-19 vaccines will drive an “epidemic” of autism

Wakefield redux? Antivax scientist Byram Bridle just took the "new school" antivax movement old school by implying that COVID-19 vaccines might cause an "epidemic of autism." Everything old is new again, sort of.

/ January 22, 2024
Shedding is not a thing for SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.

Why antivax arguments for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding” remind me of homeopathy

An antivaxxer by the 'nym "A Midwestern Doctor" makes an argument that COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" is not impossible despite the basic science that concludes it is. Sound familiar?

/ January 15, 2024
Frameshift mutation

Do mRNA vaccines produce harmful “junk proteins” that “gunk up” the cell and cause unintended “off-target” immune responses?

A new study is making the rounds in the antivax crankosphere. The study found that the modified mRNA used in the Pfizer vaccine can cause a frame shift (to be explained) that results in the production of proteins besides the intended spike protein. The findings are, as you probably guessed, a big nothingburger compared to how they are being spun.

/ December 11, 2023
Natto, from which nattokinase is extracted.

“Base Spike Detox” and Signature Spike Support Formulas: Nattokinase quackery to treat COVID-19 and COVID-19 “vaccine injury”

Dr. Peter McCullough and a number of "anti-COVID-19 vaccine" antivaxxers out there has pivoted to quackery to "detox" from the supposedly malign effects of COVID-19 vaccines. Everything old is new again, this time with nattokinase.

/ July 24, 2023
Dr. Rashid Buttar

When an antivax physician “dies suddenly”: The case of Dr. Rashid Buttar

Last month, Dr. Rashid Buttar, a prominent antivax "integrative medicine" practitioner, died suddenly. Because he hadn't been vaccinated, antivaxxers struggled mightily to reconcile his death with their conspiracy theory about COVID-19 vaccines killing thousands "suddenly." It turns out, however, that that Dr. Buttar had not been a well man since 2016 and was as much a victim of quackery as his patients...

/ June 19, 2023

“COVID-19 vaccines are going to sterilize our womenfolk,” Take 2

Antivaxxers have long claimed that vaccines, particularly HPV vaccines, can damage the ovaries and cause female infertility. That claim has been resurrected for COVID-19 vaccines. The first example relied on a dubious "similarity" between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and a placental protein. This time, it's the lipid nanoparticles attacking the ovaries, echoing very old claims about polysorbate-80. Truly, everything old is new...

/ June 7, 2021
Wuhan Institute of Virology, focus of "lab leak"

The origin of SARS-CoV-2, revisited

Since early in the pandemic, scientists have overwhelmingly concluded that evidence points to a natural origin for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, as a far more likely explanation for the pandemic than a laboratory origin. In May, however, there has been a lot of media chatter about the "lab leak" hypothesis, and President Biden even ordered US intelligence agencies to look...

/ May 31, 2021

The “deadly” coronavirus spike protein (according to antivaxxers)

Antivaxxers are citing three papers to support their claim that spike protein produced by COVID-19 vaccines is dangerous. Unsurprisingly and as usual, they're misinterpreting the studies and misrepresenting their significance. COVID-19 vaccines are, in fact, very safe.

/ May 24, 2021