Experts estimate that vaccines against Covid-19 have saved millions of lives during the pandemic, yet false information about their safety continues to surface online. During a September 2023 event at the European Parliament, US cardiologist Peter McCullough claimed that mRNA vaccines have caused a "wave" of severe health effects and called for them to be banned. A video of the address has circulated widely in several countries, including South Africa. However, AFP Fact Check spoke with experts and reviewed multiple scientific studies confirming that, while the vaccines can have adverse effects, severe cases are extremely rare. Notably, several of the conditions mentioned by McCullough are more common following a Covid-19 infection than a vaccination. Moreover, McCullough’s talk was not an official parliamentary hearing as online publications suggested, but part of an event organised by a small number of European lawmakers.

"Expert Hearing in the EU Parliament 13.09.2023," reads the text overlaying a 16-minute-long video published on Facebook on September 20, 2023.

Shared more than 1,700 times, the clip features Peter McCullough, an American cardiologist known for spreading health disinformation, purportedly speaking on an "expert panel" at the European Parliament (archived here).

In the footage, McCullough discusses the Covid-19 pandemic and mRNA vaccines, claiming that patients did not receive proper treatment for the infection and that the jabs caused a second "wave of...

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