An alarm goes around the world: it is being injected graphene with the COVID-19 vaccines. Tests? People are magnetized. Does this complaint have any credibility? None, but that hasn’t stopped it from spreading internationally as one of the most viral falsehoods of 2021.
A worldwide conspiracy
From videos in the United States to questions recorded in the European Parliament or polls in New Zealand, the belief that vaccines contained graphene nanoparticles has traveled the world with the speed at which hoaxes circulate on social media .
The theory has been shared and denied in dozens of countries on five continents and has been described in Spanish, English and French, but also in Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Indonesian, Norwegian or Albanian, among many other languages.
It has its origin in 2020, when vaccines were only under study, and is related to other fanciful conjectures about the inoculation of 5G nanobots, antennas or microchips in order to control human will.
What is graphene and why is it impossible for it to magnetize us?
Graphene is a material with carbon atoms, obtained from graphite, with extraordinary conditions of hardness and flexibility, as well as being a conductor of heat and electricity.
These qualities provide great possibilities for use in technological applications – from 5G telecommunications to screens and flexible mobile housings – and medical.
But its industrial production is complex and extremely expensive, which has slowed the spread of its use.
Aside from how expensive it would be to carry out a plan to inject graphene nanoparticles into the world’s population, it would not make any practical sense either, according to experts consulted and numerous international verifiers who have disproved these unfounded speculations.
Basically, a person cannot acquire magnetic properties or attract metallic objects with the small amount of graphene that could be introduced via a vaccine. They would be tiny portions without any effect.
On the other hand, this material is not part of the ingredients of COVID-19 vaccines, as is clear from the technical specifications of the drugs or has been guaranteed by the European Commission.
Background of a nonsensical theory
Graphene, like 5G and other pioneering technologies, had already been demonized before it was claimed that it turned the vaccinated into walking magnets.
In Spain, for example, the Telegram channel of La Quinta Columna, specialized in the dissemination of false content and conspiracy theories, had published messages warning of the presence of graphene in masks or against investigations that are studying extending the use of this material.
Regarding its specific association with vaccines, there were already publications originating in the United States in the first months of the pandemic.
Thus, on June 8, 2020, a video was released on YouTube starring the denier Celeste Solum, which warned about the use of “graphene hydrogel” in the imminent “mandatory vaccines” of the covid.
The recording was quoted on Facebook along with a warning that said element would be used in vaccines to generate “necessary implants” in order to connect people with the “internet of things.”
Although the video was removed from YouTube, another with the same title was published on July 12 of last year. Misleading claims about the Solum pandemic have been disproved by international verifiers on multiple occasions.
Also in 2020, in September, a video emerged in Argentina of an alleged “health professional” linking messenger RNA (mRNA) to graphene and associating it with “the Oxford vaccine”, although this AstraZeneca preparation does not use the mRNA but is based on a modified version of the virus that is harmless.
These statements were refuted by the Argentine verifier Chequeado.
The spoon that sticks in the arm
It was in mid-2021 that a multitude of messages began to spread about the ability of vaccines to magnetize people.
Since May, several viral messages began to circulate in the United States, France, Argentina or the Dominican Republic, among other countries, with videos that supposedly showed that metallic objects were stuck in the arms of vaccinated people, although without mentioning graphene.
At the beginning of June, these types of messages were already multiplied with the introduction of graphene as the most prominent component and with examples of spoons that adhered to the arms in the areas where the vaccines had been injected, which experts attribute to an effect suction due to moisture from the skin, similar to sticking a coin on the forehead.
The false study of Pablo Campra
The thesis of the presence of this metal in vaccines received a boost in July 2021 with the publication of a document without scientific value signed by Pablo Campra, professor at the University of AlmerÃa (southern Spain), an institution that publicly distanced itself from the course study.
Campra claimed to have found graphene derivatives in Pfizer’s vaccine, although the report had been prepared from “a sample of unknown origin with a total lack of traceability,” as the aforementioned university explained in its statement.
These uncredited conclusions have had a great international projection and were cited by Andreas Noack, a German denialist chemist in a YouTube video.
Shortly after, Noack died in Austria, where he resided, which was used by defenders of the false hypothesis of graphene in vaccines to fuel speculation that he had been killed, something that the Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office reject.
Confrontation between deniers
The evolution of this theory has another surprising element: the confrontation between different denialist groups in Spain.
Defenders of the graphene conjecture, including La Quinta Columna, call their critics “controlled dissent”, considering that they are not genuinely opposed to the power of the authorities.
It is a reaction to the attacks received by other deniers who consider that the theory of graphene is ridiculous and reduces the credibility of the group that rejects the management of the pandemic by public institutions.
For these, advocates that vaccines contain graphene primarily seek to raise money with the story.
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Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
