We have noticed this claim being circulated in local messaging groups and on social media. The claim is that a “bombshell study” by “leading researchers from America’s world-renowned Harvard Medical School” uncovered links between mRNA Covid vaccines and a “global surge in sudden deaths.”
The linked article is published on a website called Slay News – an America-based platform which claims to be an “independent media outlet providing truthful reporting and the free and open exchange of ideas.” Slay News links directly to an article published in the journal Neurohospitalist in April 2023 and makes a number of claims based on it.
Specifically, Slay News directly implies that the researchers who published the article found links between multiple cases of Cerebral Ischemia (which is a brain injury that results from a lack of blood flow to the brain) and Moderna’s Covid mRNA vaccines – and, proved that the vaccine has specifically caused “the recent spike in the fatal disorder.”
We looked closer at the original article in question. While it was, indeed, published by researchers from the Harvard School of Medicine, it is also highly misleading to describe the article as a “bombshell study” or to imply that it contains a firm conclusion on mRNA vaccines and brain damage.
Firstly, the article is a case report of a single case. It comprises no more than 800 words and does not at any point conclude or “find” that the Covid-19 vaccine is behind a surge in sudden deaths or Cerebral Ischemia. Instead, it discusses the case of a single patient who, after receiving a dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, developed serious brain injuries and subsequently passed away.
The researchers describe the symptoms and brain scans taken and conclude that the “mRNA vaccine may have contributed to this presentation.” They further note that that no other cases similar to this specific case were found in medical literature and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), “suggesting the condition is extremely rare, but potentially fatal vaccine-associated event.”
Therefore, while this case certainly suggests that rare negative reactions to the mRNA vaccine can occur – something not disputed by most experts and Moderna itself – it does not appear to support or prove a broader pattern of vaccine-induced “sudden deaths.”
We give this claim a rating of false.
The blatant misrepresentation of the original article by Slay News is a dangerous form of disinformation. By using the name recognition of Harvard and “reporting” on the article without clearly describing its conclusions and contents, the Slay News article acts as a barrier between potential readers and the source material. Readers who do not investigate further are primed to take the purported summary of the article as fact and, alongside the eye-catching headline, spread clearly false information further. This claim is also being used as part of the wider narrative about “sudden deaths,” which BDR has previously covered.
The author of the Slay News piece, Frank Bergman, is a “political/economic journalist” who does not appear to have experience in medicine. While this does not mean he is unable to report on medical news, it is also important for us as readers and consumers to be aware of who is summarising and reporting on important medical information. In cases such as these, cross-checking and looking deeper for credible news sources is extremely vital as a defence against medical mis/disinformation.
