Authors
A quote beginning with “All vaccinated people will die within 2 years” has been widely attributed to French Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier. The viral message further states people will die from antibody-dependent enhancement after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
The entire viral message can be read below.
“All Vaccinated people will die within 2 years
Nobel Prize Winner Luc Montagnier has confirmed that there is no chance of survival for people who have received any form of the vaccine. In the shocking interview, the world’s top virologist stated blankly: “there is no hope, and no possible treatment for those who have been vaccinated already. We must be prepared to incinerate the bodies.” The scientific genius backed claims of other pre eminent virologists after studying the constituents of the vaccine. “They will all die from antibody dependent enhancement. Nothing more can be said.”
“It’s an enormous mistake, isn’t it? A scientific error as well as a medical error. It is an unacceptable mistake,” Montagnier said in an interview translated and published by the RAIR Foundation USA yesterday. “The history books will show that, because it is the vaccination that is creating the variants.”
Many epidemiologists know it and are “silent” about the problem known as “antibody-dependent enhancement,” Montagnier said.”
Some versions of this viral message include a link to an article published by Life Site News.
A Twitter user has shared this claim with a 45-second video of Montagnier.
Newschecker received numerous queries on its Whatsapp tip line (9999499044) asking to verify this viral claim.
Also Read: Image Of Crocodile With Title “India’s PM cried” Was Not Published By The New York Times
Fact Check / Verification
This message goes viral at a time when approximately 11.2% of India’s population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, as per Our World In Data (25 May).
We could not find any substantial evidence to support the claim that people will die from antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Nor could we find any instance where Montagnier made this comment.
In a video shared by a Twitter user with this claim, Montagnier says it’s “unthinkable” in response to a question on whether we should be vaccinating during a pandemic. He further talks about antibody dependent enhancement and says it’s “clear that the new variants are created by antibody-mediated selection due to the vaccination.” However, he does not state that vaccinated people will die within 2 years.
The video as well as the viral messages point to an article on the website of a right-wing group RAIR Foundation USA, which claims Montagnier made these comments as part of an extensive interview with Hold-Up Media.
As published on The Wire Science, Dr Shahid Jameel spoke to two French speakers who confirmed the following four points from Montagnier’s interview:
- He did not say vaccinated people would die in two years.
- He asserted that variants are a consequence of natural selection due to vaccinations.
- He says that ADE would lead to much stronger infection by variants in vaccinated people.
- He calls massive vaccination a ‘medical mistake’.
A link to LifeSiteNews’ article on Montagnier’s claims was widely shared with the viral message on Whatsapp. Described as “a known purveyor of misleading information” by Snopes, a fact-checking organisation, LifeSiteNews has been permanently banned by Facebook for repeatedly violating policies regarding the coronavirus.
Earlier this year, Youtube also banned the anti-abortion channel for spreading msinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines against it.
Debunks
Virologist Prof Gagandeep Kang, Christian Medical College, Vellore, explains why these claims are baseless in a Twitter thread.
Dr Sumaiya Shaikh also called out the French laureate’s claims about vaccines creating new variants false.
Additionally, the Government of India’s Press Information Bureau’s fact check wing also refuted the claim calling it fake news.
In 2008, Montagnier won the Nobel prize for Medicine with fellow scientist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi for their work identifying the HIV virus. More recently, he’s come under fire for his controversial comments on HIV and the human immune system. Additionally, he’s also been criticised for his claim that SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, was leaked from a laboratory. Please note, these statements are beyond the scope of this fact check at this point.
A misleading claim such as this, attributed to a Nobel laureate is a cause of massive concern as it can promote vaccine hesitancy among those yet to be vaccinated.
Also Read: Unrelated 2019 Image Manipulated With CNN Logo To Spark Fear Around COVID-19 Vaccines
Conclusion
Contrary to the viral message, Luc Montagnier did not comment that vaccinated people will die within 2 years. Additionally, there is no scientific evidence to support other concerns of ADE raised by Montagnier in his interview with Hold-Up Media.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources
Virologist Prof Gagandeep Kang: https://twitter.com/GKangInd/status/1397429770028158978
Dr Sumaiya Shaikh: https://twitter.com/Neurophysik/status/1397166658356137990?s=20
Press Information Bureau Fact Check: https://twitter.com/PIBFactCheck/status/1397156705918537729
The Wire Science: https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/luc-montagniers-views-on-covid-vaccines-are-latest-of-his-wrong-vexing-ideas/
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/facebook-ban-lifesite-covid/2021/05/07/638a4768-af48-11eb-acd3-24b44a57093a_story.html
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