Amid the recent surge of monkeypox cases across the U.S., some social media users are claiming the disease is linked to COVID-19 vaccines.
"Monkeypox is another lie. It's VACCINEPOX! Get it right," reads a screenshot of a tweet shared to Instagram on Aug. 1.
One of the post's comments reads, "It will be interesting to see how many unjabbed never get it but then again that probably still wont be enough to awaken the masses."
The post generated over 300 likes in less than a week. A July 24 article from The Expose, a United Kingdom-based alternative news site, shared to Facebook also details claims that monkeypox is only ''circulating in countries'' where the Pfizer vaccine has been distributed. Similar posts have been shared widely on Facebook.
But the claim is baseless.
Infectious disease specialists told USA TODAY that monkeypox is not linked to any of the COVID-19 vaccines. These vaccines also do not contain any live viruses, so it is not possible that monkeypox can be a side effect.
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USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.
Monkeypox is most certainly not a side effect of the COVID vaccine or any vaccine for that matter, Dr. Scott Roberts, an infectious disease specialist at Yale Medicine, told USA TODAY. There is no evidence from any...
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