Do COVID vaccines have cancer-causing DNA?

A new video featuring former CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield claims mRNA COVID vaccines may cause serious side effects, contain SV40, last longer in the body than expected, and should be rechecked for safety, especially since alternatives are now available.

The DNA many misinformed have claimed is running amock in mRNA vaccines is from a virus named SV40, a simian virus that is most commonly found in the kidneys of several kinds of monkeys. It can also sometimes infect humans and can potentially cause cancer via tumor (T) antigens.

Unfortunately, early batches of the polio vaccine became contaminated with SV40, and the methods used to inactivate the poliovirus did not reliably inactivate SV40. Importantly, epidemiological studies have found no increased cancer risk in those who received these vaccines.

Since then, a promoter gene (a DNA sequence that starts RNA transcription) of SV40 has been found to promote a high level of gene expression for producing proteins and has been used in DNA vaccines. The sequence used is just the promoter gene and does not include any part of the DNA sequence that encodes for the T antigen of SV40. While promoters like the SV40 promoter are used in the manufacturing of mRNA vaccines, they are not considered an ingredient in the vaccines as the vast majority of it is removed during production.

Manufacturing vaccines for a small batch for a trial is a very different process than manufacturing thousands of doses at a time. Process 1 is the small batch process, while process 2 is the scaled-up version.

Although the processes are different, they are both held to the same safety and quality standards.

Original claims that DNA plasmids were found in mRNA vaccines at a higher proportion of mRNA to DNA than is allowed by FDA guidelines stem from a previous preprint paper acknowledging that one limitation of the study is the “unknown provenance of the vaccine vials under study.”

One great thing about using mRNA in these vaccines is that mRNA degrades very quickly, generally within days. The spike protein stimulates immunity and will be neutralized by the immune system. But it will generally be produced for only a few days.

See more debunked claims about mRNA COVID vaccines and SV40.