An old video circulating again features Candace Owens claiming that the HPV vaccine caused a seizure in her, that it doesn’t actually reduce cervical cancer, and that most HPV infections go away on their own without causing serious health problems.

We don’t know what Candace Owens experienced with her vaccine, but syncope (fainting) and convulsive syncope (fainting with muscle jerking) can happen after receiving a vaccine. This study shows syncope happens in about 7.8 of 100,000 doses given and 2.6 per 100,000 for convulsive syncope. It usually happens, not after HPV vaccination specifically, but after a painful stimulus or stress, which any vaccine or other injury can trigger.

While convulsive syncope can be alarming, its causes are the same as regular fainting, it is easy to treat, and it is unrelated to seizure disorders.

Owens’ claim that the HPV vaccine has not reduced cervical and other cancer rates is false, however. Multiple large-scale studies and real-world data show that cervical cancer rates have dropped significantly in vaccinated populations, including a Swedish study of 1.7 million women which found that those vaccinated before age 17 had a nearly 90% lower risk of developing cervical cancer compared to those who were not vaccinated.

The claim that HPV infections usually clear on their own is partially true but misleading because it ignores the fact that some infections persist and cause cancer. The HPV vaccine is designed to prevent those dangerous, persistent infections. Yes, most HPV infections (about 90%) go away within 1-2 years without causing harm, but in 5-10% of cases, the virus does not clear and can lead to cervical, anal, throat, and other cancers. There’s no way to know which individuals will clear HPV naturally and who will develop cancer years later.

A press release about the results of a FOIA request suggests that the COVID vaccine does cause damage to a person’s DNA.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is meant to access government records, not to ask agencies questions or investigate scientific matters. The fact that lawyers keep using FOIA for such purposes implies that they might be aware of this but are being misleading or dishonest. This misleading tactic can be effective, which is why it’s important to set the record straight.

An mRNA vaccine cannot alter your DNA. Your DNA is housed in the nucleus of your cells and contains all the instructions for the development and functioning of your body. Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is transcribed and carries those instructions outside the nucleus where they are implemented. The mRNA introduced by a vaccine cannot enter the nucleus where the DNA is housed.

In addition, RNA, including mRNA, is single-stranded and cannot directly interact with double-stranded DNA. In order for RNA to interact with DNA, it must first be made into DNA— which requires an enzyme called reverse transcriptase. This enzyme is not even found in human cells, so interaction is impossible. And if your genome cannot be not altered by mRNA from the vaccine, there is no alteration to pass down to your offspring.

There is something that can potentially damage DNA, though: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.

A new study has antivaxxers suggesting that COVID vaccination makes you more prone to many different kinds of illnesses.

This study relies entirely on a self-reported online survey, which is subject to recall and selection biases. Participants in the survey may describe their health differently based on what they believe and how they see things. Also, the survey showed that the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups had important differences in age and health. For example, the vaccinated group was older and more likely to be taking medications.

The analysis itself doesn’t necessarily show the conclusions the study claims In research, a number called a p-value helps show if a difference is real or just happened by chance. Usually, if the p-value is below 0.05, the difference is considered meaningful. However, some of the differences the study claims to have found have p-values higher than 0.05. For example, the claim that vaccinated people got COVID more often had a p-value of 0.103, which means there isn’t strong evidence to support that claim.

The study wrongly claims that mRNA vaccines make “cells in vital organs produce a toxic Spike protein.” This is not true. The vaccines use mRNA to tell cells at the injection site to make the spike protein. This helps the immune system recognize the virus, and then the mRNA breaks down and disappears.