German study looked into COVID’s impact on the brain, not vaccine effects
CLAIM: A pre-print study found that the COVID-19 vaccines cause long-term brain damage.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The study being referenced, conducted by German researchers and not yet peer-reviewed, looked into the presence of the virus’ spike protein in the brain following infection. The paper did not explore vaccine side effects, a co-author confirmed.
THE FACTS: Social media posts are circulating a headline that misrepresents a study exploring the ramifications of COVID-19 on the brain, falsely suggesting the research was centered on vaccines.
“European Study Concludes COVID Jabs Cause ‘Long-Term Brain Damage,’” reads the headline from The People’s Voice, a website that has spread misinformation and previously operated as News Punch and Your News Wire. The story was shared by thousands on Twitter and the headline appeared in screenshots on Instagram.
But the website is referencing a recent preprint paper that focused on COVID-19 infection, not vaccines, titled: “SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Accumulation in the Skull-Meninges-Brain Axis: Potential Implications for Long-Term Neurological Complications in post-COVID-19.”
Claims linking the paper to vaccine side effects are a distortion, said study co-author Dr. Ali Ertürk, director of the Institute of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, part of the Helmholtz Center Munich.
“We have done zero experiments using vaccine, and we have shown and claim zero side effects of the vaccine,” he told The Associated Press in an email.
The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna don’t contain the virus but instead instruct the body to produce the coronavirus’ spike protein to generate immunity.
But Ertürk said that’s not the same as being infected with the virus.
“The issue is that during infection, there is enormous amount of viral replication, and spike protein production, which impact many organs including the brain,” he said.
The paper investigated the distribution of the virus’ spike protein in the brain using mouse models and human postmortem tissues.
“Our study reveals the accumulation of the spike protein in the skull marrow, brain meninges, and brain parenchyma, which can contribute to changes in the brain and may explain the neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19,” Ertürk said.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.