By Reuters Fact Check
Posts sharing the belief that the Delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 comes from vaccines are false.
An example of a post on social media making this claim captioned “create the problem and sell the solution. #butthatsnoneofmybusiness”.
COVID-19 variants do not derive from the vaccine. The vaccine cannot replicate the virus. Guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explaining how mRNA vaccines only provide instructions to the cells in the human body on how to make a “spike protein” is available at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html.
Delta is one of four variants of the new coronavirus creating concern in the United States. Also called B.1.617.2, Delta originated in India and was identified in the United States in March. The Delta variant is a mutation of the original COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2).
According to the Virginia Department of Health, the virus can survive on its own with a host; once inside a new host, the virus can replicate and make copies. In the replication stage, mistakes can happen when the copies do not come out exactly like the parent virus; those mistakes are called mutations. The new variations or variants can change how infectious the virus is and how the human immune system responds to the virus. See https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/variants/ for more.
A World Health Organization video visible on YouTube called “What causes a virus to change?” illustrates how variants develop.
An earlier Reuters fact-check article on how vaccination efforts do not cause new COVID-19 variants is available at www.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N2NL1M2. Reuters also debunked claims that the Delta variant was not real in more detail.
Spokesperson for the CDC, Kate Grusich said to Reuters via email, “None of the vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. contain the live virus that causes COVID-19.” Grusich emphasizes, “A COVID-19 vaccine cannot make you sick with COVID-19.”
The CDC said it was important to note that “viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur.” Research and monitoring of the variants continue as COVID-19 evolves. Tracking of COVID-19 data in the United States, including variants, can be seen here.
Verdict
False. COVID-19 variants do not come from the vaccine; variants come from mutations of the COVID-19 virus.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team and edited to include some links not available through print media. Read more about its fact-checking work at https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/about. For the original article with several links to the sources mentioned, including social media posts and statistics, visit www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-delta-vaccine-idUSL1N2OW1TA.
