A post shared on Facebook claims Johns Hopkins University confirmed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests can vaccinate patients.

Verdict: False

There is no evidence to support the claim. A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins University denied the rumor regarding PCR tests distributing vaccines.

Fact Check:

The Facebook post claims, “John Hopkins confirms PCR tests can deliver the same poison as the jab!!!” A second post by the author links to an April 2021 article titled “Johns Hopkins University confirms: You can be vaccinated with a PCR test, even without knowing.”

The linked article cites “experts” and journalists who claim the World Health Organization (WHO) would soon begin vaccinating individuals through PCR tests using recently-developed “theragrippers.” It mentions a November 2020 Johns Hopkins publication, which defines theragrippers as “tiny, star-shaped microdevices that can latch onto intestinal mucosa and release drugs into the body.”

These devices, while real, have only been used in animal studies, according to the Johns Hopkins article. Theragrippers can be deployed in the gastrointestinal tract and do not rely on wireless signals, electricity or external controls, the article reported. Although the article features an image of the devices on a nasal swab for demonstrative purposes, there is no indication that theragrippers are being created or used to vaccinate people through PCR tests.

Johns Hopkins has not made any mention of attaching theragrippers to PCR tests in its news releases or in any of its Facebook or Twitter posts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not announced that the devices would be used for such a purpose, and the Food and Drug Administration has not approved that alleged method of vaccination. (RELATED: Did A Johns Hopkins Virologist Author This Statement About COVID-19 Vaccines?)

“An article published by Johns Hopkins Medicine in November 2020, has been inaccurately used for disinformation purposes over the past few months,” a spokesperson from Johns Hopkins told Check Your Fact in an email, adding the devices can be deployed via endoscope to the intestines.

“This nanotechnology has shown promise in a laboratory setting. However, it is still in its infancy and has not been approved for use in humans,” the spokesperson continued, adding that the devices have “neither [been] tested nor used for vaccine delivery.”