FACT CHECK: Is Monkeypox Only Spreading In Countries Where The Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Has Been Distributed?

A post shared on Facebook claims the monkeypox virus is only circulating in countries where Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has been distributed. 

Verdict: False

Several countries where the Pfizer vaccine has not been distributed, including India and Russia, have reported cases of monkeypox.

Fact Check:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently expanded the authorization of monkeypox vaccines to increase supply and allow shots to be given to children, according to CNBC. A post shared on Facebook claims the disease may be connected to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The image appears to show two world maps, one from the World Health Organization (WHO) that shows where cases of monkeypox had been reported as of May and another that allegedly shows where the Pfizer vaccine had been distributed.

“‘Monkeypox’ Is Only Circulating In Countries Where Pfizer Vaccine Has Been Distributed Think about that for a moment,” reads part of the post. “It’s being used to advance a Technocratic Great Reset.”

The claim is incorrect. Check Your Fact could not find any credible news reports to corroborate such a statement. A map available on the Pfizer website shows the countries where the company’s COVID-19 vaccine has been distributed. Notably, it shows Russia, India and Venezuela as having not received the vaccine. Yet each of those countries has reported at least one case of monkeypox, according to a map on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

“WHO has not made any claims like this,” said the WHO in an email to Check Your Fact. (RELATED: Did BBC News Share This Graphic About Monkeypox Being Airborne?)

“Monkeypox is not one of the listed known side effects of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine,” a Pfizer spokesperson said in an email to Check Your Fact. The spokesperson further explained that the company’s COVID-19 vaccine is synthetic and does not contain a live virus that could be transmitted between humans.

This is not the first time misinformation about monkeypox has spread on social media. Check Your Fact recently debunked a claim suggesting the FDA had approved a vaccine from Pfizer that protects against the monkeypox virus.

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