FACT CHECK: Was A Pfizer Patent For ‘Tracking Vaccinated Humans Worldwide Via Microwave And Graphene’ Approved?

A viral Instagram post claims a Pfizer patent application for “tracking vaccinated humans worldwide via microwave and graphene held in fatty tissues of the vaccinated” was recently approved.

Verdict: False

The referenced patent is owned by Gal Ehrlich and Maier Fenster, not Pfizer. The patent proposes a method of prioritizing vaccination based on counting social interactions via collecting data from electronic devices like cell phones, according to the text of the patent and the patent owners.

Fact Check

This particular Instagram post alleges the supposed Pfizer patent will involve “remote contract tracing all vaccinated humans worldwide who will be or are now connected to the ‘internet of things’ by a quantum link of pulsating microwave frequencies of 2.4 gHz or higher from cell…” The post also claims it is “the very first patent that shows up in a list of over 18500” for such a purpose. The caption of the Instagram post reads, “You see their evil plan now?”

The Instagram post appears to be referencing a patent titled “Methods And Systems Of Prioritizing Treatments, Vaccination, Testing And/Or Activities While Protecting The Privacy Of Individuals,” based on other iterations of the same claim featuring images of that patent.

The patent in question explains it is for a method of prioritizing treatments, vaccinations and testing for an infection disease like COVID-19 through a system of a “plurality of electronic devices comprising instructions to generate an ID and, when in proximity of another such electronic device, one or both electronic devices transmit/receive the ID to/from the other electronic device.” Based on a “plurality of such received IDs,” the system would create a score and, based on that score and “information received from a server,” it would provide relevant information regarding prioritization, according to the patent’s abstract.

Pfizer is not listed among the patent’s applicants or inventors. Instead, Gal Ehrlich and Maier Fenster of the Israeli firm Ehrlich & Fenster are listed as such. (RELATED: Did Italy’s Health Ministry Change Its Official COVID-19 Death Toll From Over 130,000 To 3,783?)

Both Ehrlich and Fenster confirmed in emails to Check Your Fact that the patent is owned by them and not Pfizer. Here’s how Ehrlich explained the invention:

Our invention stipulates that prophylactic measures (including, e.g., the use of drugs or vaccines) to combat a droplet/air born infective disease, in cases where the measures are in short supply, would epidemiologically outperform if administered first to those practicing more social interactions as compared to those who are at risk (e.g., elderly, sick) as is currently recommended by the WHO for COVID-19 vaccinations, and practiced by all governments.

The implementation of this approach of prioritization may be by counting social interactions by monitoring Bluetooth interactions between cell phones of those individuals that socially interact in a way technologically similar to what is commonly known as digital contact tracing, with one major difference: contacts of apparently healthy individuals are monitored for prioritization of administration of measures, such as vaccines, if, where and when these are in short supply.

Fenster also said the patent is “intended for deciding who should be vaccinated” and “teaches collecting information about people before they are vaccinated and not allowing such information to leave their phones in a way that degrades privacy.” Ehrlich further noted that the invention was “conceived during April/May 2020” and the “earliest priority date for this patent is August 2020,” at which times COVID-19 vaccines were not yet available.

The patent does not mention microwaves or graphene at any point. Check Your Fact previously debunked the claim that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene oxide.

“There is no patent filed by Pfizer that would allow for remote contact tracing of vaccinated individuals,” Keanna Ghazvini, a Pfizer spokesperson, told Check Your Fact via email. “Additionally, there are no microwave frequencies emitted from the vaccine that would make remote contact tracing possible.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states on its website that COVID-19 vaccines “do not contain microchips” and are “free from metals.”

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