Did livestock breeders start vaccinating pork and cattle in the U.S. with mRNA vaccines so that people would eat their vaccine instead of getting shots? No, that's not true: The U.S. media and the livestock associations themselves have said that there is neither a mandate nor requirement for them to vaccinate pigs and cattle with mRNA shots.
The video (archived here) where the claim appeared was published by Tiktok on June 11. It falsely claims several U.S. livestock associations have confirmed that they would have started using mRNA vaccines in farmed animals. It contains text in Czech beginning with "mRNA očkování jídlem," which translates as "mRNA vaccination through food," and begins with captions in English like this:
You were bold enough to stand and not to take your vxxxxxe in your arm. Now you can be hoodwinked into taking it to your mouth by what you eat.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Jun 14 09:11:41 2023 UTC)
AP has already debunked the claim that breeders in the U.S. started vaccinating pork or cattle with mRNA shots in the U.S. in April. According to credible media reports, no approved mRNA vaccines are currently used for farmed animals in the U.S.
There is also no evidence that Covid-19 vaccines are being given to livestock anywhere in the world, health authorities say. The only animals that have received any kind of vaccines against Covid-19, have been those in zoos, such as gorillas, which may be susceptible to the disease. Also, scientists say that although mRNA technology may be used in the future for vaccinating livestock against several diseases, it does not alter genes when applied, neither in animals nor humans.
The video also includes a claim that Bill Gates and other authorities, such as the World Health Organization, would have pledged to genetically modify products so that they would transfer the vaccine to humans who eat it. US Today has also already debunked this claim as false.
For more Lead Stories fact checks on coronavirus, see here.
