By: Annie Priya
July 27 2022
False: The drug Scopolamine was found in COVID-19 vaccines meant for children.
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
There is no evidence that Scopolamine is present in COVID-19 vaccines recommended for children. The claim originates from a satirical website.
Claim ID 9525776f
Context:
Wide-spread misinformation and myths about COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in enabling vaccine hesitancy. In July 2022, some Facebook posts containing the image of an article titled "Scopolamine Found in Child Covid Vaccine" were widely circulated. One such post with the description, “WTF. You may not know this drug... I do, and I am disgusted at Big Pharma”, shared the image of a child screaming as she is being injected.
In fact:
The shared photograph also includes the name of one Michael Baxter. After searching for the name, we found the viral claim was actually published by the satirical website Real Raw News on July 21. The article in question reported that General David H. Berger's office sources said that the "U.S. military has found the drug Scopolamine in Covid-19 vaccines destined to reach the arms of children." Real Raw News includes a disclaimer that warns readers not to take its content too seriously as it contains humor, parody, and satire.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine stated that FDA had approved two indications for using the medication Scopolamine to "prevent nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness” or “postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) associated with recovery from anesthesia, opiate analgesia, and surgery." The Science Explorer, a science news website, reported that the drug is also known as the "Devil's breath" due to its alleged ability to remove a person's free will. It has reportedly been used to commit a crime in South America. The drug is both odorless and tasteless.
The U.S. Department of Defense has not released any statement mentioning such a drug as part of ingredients of COVID-19 vaccines meant for children. Similarly, no press release on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) website indicates that Scopolamine was discovered in COVID-19 vaccines.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 vaccine recommendations differ depending on the age. Children of ages 5-17 years of age are recommended to take the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in two doses, and children of age six months - 4 years of age are recommended to take three doses of the Pfizer vaccine or two doses of the Moderna vaccine. The complete ingredients of all the FDA-approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines are publicly available on the the CDC website. None of the COVID-19 vaccines contain Scopolamine.
On June 22, FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D said, "Those trusted with the care of children can have confidence in the safety and effectiveness of these COVID-19 vaccines and can be assured that the agency was thorough in its evaluation of the data."
The verdict:
There is no evidence or any credible news reports suggesting the alleged discovery of Scopolamine in COVID-19 vaccines. Hence, we have marked this claim false.