No, Pfizer doc doesn’t say graphene oxide is vaccine ingredient
CLAIM: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released documents from Pfizer that confirm graphene oxide is in its COVID-19 vaccine.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The vaccine does not contain graphene oxide, the FDA again confirmed to The Associated Press. The document being cited online does not say anything about vaccine manufacturing, but instead describes using graphene oxide during a process of evaluating the vaccine’s spike protein under a microscope.
THE FACTS: The ingredients for Pfizer’s COVID-19 are publicly available. The shot does not include graphene oxide — a material made by oxidizing graphite — as experts and Pfizer have previously told the AP.
Widespread social media posts this week shared a headline from a conspiracy theory website claiming that the FDA “confirms Graphene Oxide is in the mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines.”
The story specifically claimed that a study outlined in a FDA-released Pfizer document, titled “Structural and Biophysical Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein (P2 S) as a Vaccine Antigen,” shows that the company used graphene oxide in making its vaccine.
But that’s not what the document says.
“Graphene oxide was used to study the structure of the vaccine only,” said Dr. Matthew Laurens, a pediatric infectious disease specialist and researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Center for Vaccine Development. “It is not an ingredient.”
Laurens, who reviewed the document being cited, said in an email that it describes a lab study that was conducted to determine whether the spike protein induced by the vaccine authentically mimics the coronavirus’ actual spike protein.
Graphene oxide was used during a process known as “cryogenic electron microscopy” to examine the structure of the vaccine version of the spike protein, Laurens explained.
Likewise, an FDA spokesperson said the document, which appeared to be a Pfizer record produced by the agency under a court order, was not suggesting graphene oxide is actually in the vaccines.
“Graphene oxide is a material to aid in the imaging of the protein,” Abby Capobianco said in an email statement, describing the study outlined in the document. “Graphene oxide is not an ingredient in the vaccine.”
The long-circulating claims around graphene oxide air concerns that the material would be dangerous to humans. Experts have previously told the AP there has been research on potentially using graphene oxide in other vaccines, but the amounts would not be toxic to human cells.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.