FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show The COVID-19 Vaccine Under A Microscope?
A video shared on Instagram purportedly shows the COVID-19 vaccine “under a microscope.”
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Verdict: False
The video shows self-assembling wires, not a microscopic view of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fact Check:
The Instagram video, which has been viewed over 7,000 times, shows what appear to be hundreds of small, black particles in a Petri dish contorting and then connecting to one another. “COVID VACCINE UNDER A MICROSCOPE,” reads the post’s caption.
The video, however, does not show a microscopic view of the COVID-19 vaccine. A reverse image search reveals the Instagram post is made up of clips from a video shared on YouTube in 2015 by the “Stanford Complexity Group” titled, “Self-Assembling Wires.” The narrator of the video explains the footage shows experiments conducted to study “self-assembling wires made of metal ball bearings which form emergent structures.” The particles visible in the Instagram video are, therefore, metal ball bearings as seen from the naked eye in a Petri dish.
Other videos showing similar experiments with self-assembling wires can be found on YouTube, including one posted by the verified account of The Action Lab, a science experiment website. (RELATED: Did Dr. Leana Wen Admit The COVID-19 Vaccine Is The Delta Variant?)
Researchers have used a technique called cryo-electron microscopy to examine the impact a COVID-19 vaccine has on human cells and found that it helps the cells develop spike proteins similar to those found on the virus, which in turn allows the body to build some immunity, according to Science Daily. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states on its website: “All COVID-19 vaccines are free from metals.”
Microscopic images of the COVID-19 virus can be found on the CDC’s website.
