COVID-19 vaccines have been safely tested in and approved for those ages 5 and older, but that has not stopped false, fear-inducing claims about risks of the vaccine to children.
A TikTok video posted Jan. 3 shows footage of Dr. Robert Malone saying that when children are given vaccines for COVID-19, "A viral gene will be injected into your children's cells. This gene forces your child’s body to make toxic spike proteins. These proteins often cause permanent damage in children’s critical organs."
The caption on the video reads, "Listen please inventor of vaccine says do not get vaccine." After the video was posted, the account appears to have been banned from TikTok for repeated violations of community standards.
The TikTok video was shared on Facebook and was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
Spike proteins are not toxic, and experts have told fact checkers there is no evidence that the spike proteins damage organs.
Malone is the self-proclaimed inventor of messenger RNA vaccines, though that description has been disputed. He has "leveraged that title to push one false claim after another," PolitiFact reported.
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