Fact check: No evidence of a link between COVID-19 vaccines, cancer spike in people under 50

Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY
·4 min read
216

The claim: Post implies a connection between COVID-19 vaccines and a cancer spike in people younger than 50

As new COVID-19 variants gain momentum in the U.S., health officials are urging the public to get vaccinated. A recent social media post, however, links the vaccine to cancer.

An Instagram post shared Oct. 17 juxtaposes screenshots of two articles. It shows the headline of a Reuters fact-check article that debunked the claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause cancer. The article’s date – Nov. 12, 2021 – is underlined in red.

Below it is a headline of a CNN article that discusses how a global epidemic of cancer could be emerging among people younger than 50. This article’s date – Oct. 17 – is also underlined in red.

"I risk being shadowbanned by sharing these types of memes that don’t claim causation but suggest coincidental correlation," reads the caption of the post.

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But the implied claim here is wrong – and shows the people citing the cancer study as proof failed to actually read it.

Infectious disease specialists told USA TODAY the COVID-19 vaccines have no connection with cancer. The CNN article cites a study that explains how the incidence of certain cancer types have increased.

But that study examined data from 2000 to 2012, long before COVID-19 existed.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the claim for comment.

Comparison between articles is misleading

There is no link between COVID-19 vaccines and cancer, Dr. Patrick Jackson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Virginia Health, told USA TODAY.

None of the active ingredients in the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna or Johnson and Johnson vaccines are carcinogenic, according to Jackson. Medical experts and state health officials also told USA TODAY in February that there has been no significant uptick in cancer rates during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

"It would be historic in terms of that much of a rise in such a short period of time," Dr. Arif Kamal, first chief patient officer for the American Cancer Society, told USA TODAY at the time. "Checking with cancer center directors and colleagues across the country, no one is seeing that level."

The CNN article shown in the post does not support the claim, either.

Fact check: No evidence of cancer spike linked to COVID-19 vaccines

It cites a recently published study that reviewed age-standardized data on cancer incidence from 44 countries. The study found that “the incidence of early-onset cancers is rising rapidly for colorectal and 13 other types of cancers, many of which affect the digestive system,” according to CNN.

However, the study relies on data obtained from 2000 to 2012, predating the COVID-19 pandemic. It has nothing to do with COVID-19 vaccines, Dr. Xavier Llor, the director for cancer screening at Yale New Haven Health, told USA TODAY in an email.

The authors noted in a press release that many factors, such as a westernized diet and lifestyle, which has changed in the last few decades, as well as "early detection through cancer screening programs" have contributed to an increased incidence of certain cancer types. The COVID-19 vaccines are not referenced in the study.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our rating: Missing context

Based on our research, we rate MISSING CONTEXT the implication that there is a connection between COVID-19 vaccines and a cancer spike in people younger than 50. The CNN article referenced here does not cite COVID-19 vaccines as a possible cause of cancer since the study relies on data from 2000-2012, well before COVID-19 or the vaccines existed. There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to cancer.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: No evidence of link between COVID-19 vaccines, cancer