Several videos viral on social media claim that the COVID-19 vaccine will contain a microchip that will be injected into people which will help in tracking and controlling them.
However, we found that the “optional” RFID chips will be installed in the vaccine syringes to track the distribution of the vaccines. It will not be in the vaccine itself and will not be injected into people.
CLAIM
In one of the viral videos, we see a cleric talking about vaccines containing chips that will control and change the behaviour of people. This particular video was shared in May 2020 but went viral in the first week of December when the distribution of vaccine was in its final stage.
Another video that went massively viral in April 2020 was also shared in December where we see employees in a store injecting themselves with a chip that helps them makes purchases without cash or cards. A floating text on the video reads, “The RFID chips coming in all coronavirus vaccine shots in the next 18 months (MARK OF THE BEAST).”
A third video viral with similar claims contains clips of Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Jack Ma talking about injecting people with chips.
The video was viral on Twitter as well.
American rap artist Kanye West, in an interview with Forbes, pushed the conspiracy theory and said, “They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven.”
WHAT WE FOUND
When we conducted a Google search for “chips in vaccines”, we found a news report on the United States of America Department of Defence awarding the contract to ApiJet, pre-filled syringe maker, to manufacture injectors for the COVID-19 vaccine.
In an interview to CBN news, the executive chairman of the company Jay Walker explains the purpose of the optional Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips in the injectors.
“It is designed so that there is no counterfeit. It is designed so that we know the right dose hasn’t expired. It helps public heath officials know when there are outbreaks, if we have vaccinated enough people in those areas,” Walker said.
Walker goes on to compare the technology to a bar code and assured that it will not carry and register any personal information of the recipient.
“The microchip is purely optional, however, and the US government hasn’t even decided if they’re going to use it,” he added.
The second video is from Wisconsin, USA where a vending machine company had offered to implant a microchip in the hands of its employees to log in to computers, buys snacks and use office services. The clipped video was from a longer news report filed by NBC News on 25 July 2017, much before the coronavirus pandemic started.
Claims about Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Bill Gates trying to implant a chip through the COVID-19 vaccine have been around on social media ever since he and his wife Melinda Gates donated $100 million towards coronavirus vaccine research and treatment efforts.
The third viral post is a heavily edited video that includes footage from Bill Gates’ interview from 2013. His speech about digital future and financial inclusion was edited to make it look like Gates said that “innovations like vaccines, we need a measuring system that tracks the vaccine.” The viral clip also contains several other edited portions of unrelated interviews to create a false narrative.
(This article was first published on FIT and has been republished with permission.)
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)