Westminster council goes to war with anti-vaxxers who use WhatsApp to target vulnerable Londoners with 'dangerous narratives' about Covid jab 'changing peoples' DNA' in bid to put them off getting life-saving vaccine
- Unsubstantiated theories about Covid-19 vaccine are circulating on WhatsApp
- Including false claims vaccine is unsafe because of insufficient time to test it
- Other false claims include the coronavirus jab changing the DNA of recipients
- Total of 4,419,704 Covid-19 vaccinations have now taken place in England
Council officials today warned anti-vaccination activists targeting vulnerable people will 'cost lives' as they revealed shocking conspiracy theory videos circulating online.
Unsubstantiated theories such as the Covid-19 vaccine not being safe because there hasn't been enough time to test it are among those being shared via WhatsApp.
Other false claims include the jab changing the DNA of recipients and manufacturer Pfizer being untrustworthy because of lawsuits brought against it in the past.
Westminster City Council sent MailOnline three videos being circulated around residents - but this website will not publish them, to avoid them spreading further.
It comes as the NHS revealed today that a total of 4,419,704 Covid-19 vaccinations had taken place in England between December 8 and January 19. The provisional data included first and second doses, and is a rise of 301,362 on yesterday's figures.
Unsubstantiated theories such as the Covid-19 vaccine not being safe because there hasn't been enough time to test it are among those being shared in videos via WhatsApp
Of the total, 3,985,579 were the first dose of the vaccine, a rise of 298,3730 on yesterday's figures, while 434,125 were the second dose, an increase of 2,989.
One of the videos quotes Dr Andrew Kaufman, a forensic psychiatrist from Syracuse, New York, saying: 'This pandemic is not a real medical pandemic. The Covid-19 vaccine is not proven safe or effective because there has not been enough time.'
Also quoted is Hilde De Smet, a doctor from Belgium, adds: 'Due to the excuse of a global pandemic, the pharma industry has the permission to skip the animal trials.
'This means we humans will be the guinea pigs and we might get severe side effects when we are exposed to new viruses.'
One of the videos quotes osteopath Carrie Madej (pictured) as claiming the vaccines will change recipients' DNA – another unsubstantiated claim
A second video entitled 'a trustworthy vaccine' tells viewers: 'It won't be mandatory at the beginning, but judging from the large orders, a gradual plan will be implemented to persuade and incentivise people to take the vaccine and put restrictions on people that don't, along with shaming campaigns.'
And a third quotes osteopath Carrie Madej as claiming the vaccines will change recipients' DNA – another unsubstantiated claim.
Today, Westminster City Council leader Rachael Robathan condemned people who spread anti-vaxxer material as 'peddlers of conspiracy fantasies' who cost lives.
She also revealed that the groups and individuals against the vaccine were deliberately targeting vulnerable residents with print and online anti-jab material.
One of the videos quotes Dr Andrew Kaufman, a psychiatrist from New York, saying: 'This pandemic is not a real medical pandemic. The Covid-19 vaccine is not proven safe or effective'
Ms Robathan said: 'I have been extremely troubled to see dangerous narratives around the vaccines emerging within our communities.
'Anti-vaccination propaganda is being deliberately targeted at some of our more vulnerable residents in print and via social media.
'As the death toll soars, peddlers of conspiracy fantasies are trying to stop those uncertain about vaccination from getting it.
'The community is fighting back with local people countering the false stories - our job as a council is to reinforce that with basic facts.'
Westminster City Council leader Rachael Robathan (pictured) today condemned people who spread anti-vaxxer material as 'peddlers of conspiracy fantasies' who cost lives
Ms Robathan added that it was 'so important that that these conspiracies do not take hold', and that it was 'not about restricting free speech or a legitimate debate about the effectiveness or otherwise of lockdowns'.
She continued: 'We have to challenge the anti-vax peddlers because their conspiracy theories will cost lives.'
Ms Robathan said anxieties are 'circulating in some of our most vulnerable wards and communities', and they were working with faith groups to ensure the community are behind the vaccinations campaign.
She added: 'Our community groups have a huge role to play in countering these dangerous ideas and we must support them in doing so wherever possible.'
Covid conspiracy theorists who claim the vaccines are not safe, think animal trials were skipped and claim jabs will alter our DNA
By Jack Wright for MailOnline
Dr Andrew Kaufman is a psychiatrist who received his training and degrees from Duke University, MIT and South Carolina Medical University
Dr Andrew Kaufman
Dr Andrew Kaufman is a psychiatrist who received his training and degrees from Duke University, MIT and South Carolina Medical University.
He has denied the existence of SARS-CoV-2 and all viruses in general, saying that viruses are instead exosomes, a natural transport vehicle made by our cells.
Dr Kaufman has become well-known on YouTube for claiming that the pandemic is not a 'real medical pandemic', but a pretext for the suspension of human rights.
The psychiatrist has also claimed that the vaccine has not even proven safe or effective because there has not been enough time to test the jab.
In reality, there are many vaccines that are under development, in clinical trials, or awaiting regulatory approval.
Those that have been submitted for approval have been undergoing clinical trials for 10 or 11 months. They have completed all the phases usually associated with clinical trials.
Those trials proved them to be both safe and effective.
Dr Hilde De Smet has claimed that face masks cause excess Co2 and that animal trials were skipped in the development of Pfizer and Moderna's new Covid-19 vaccines because using mRNA vaccines on animals triggers dangerous inflammation
Dr Hilde De Smet
According to the Daily Friend website, Dr Hilde De Smet practices 'natural and complementary therapies, applied kinesiology, traditional Chinese medicine, auriculotherapy, herbs and nutritional supplements, homeopathy, and light therapy, and has studied many healing systems, from the esoteric healing of Alice A. Bailey, Reiki, and the Alchemic Healing of Tareth, to the Toltec traditions from Mexico, the Q'ero traditions from Peru and traditional Amazonian healing methods'.
She has claimed that face masks cause excess Co2 and that animal trials were skipped in the development of Pfizer and Moderna's new Covid-19 vaccines because using mRNA vaccines on animals triggers dangerous inflammation.
Associated Press has proven this last claim to be totally false. It reported that the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna both rely on messenger RNA.
MRNA vaccines contain a genetic code that trains the immune system to recognize the spike protein on the surface of the virus to generate an immune response.
Due to the urgent need for a vaccine in a surging pandemic, Pfizer and Moderna were given approval to simultaneously test their vaccines on animals while they were conducting Phase 1 trials on humans. The vaccines were tested on mice and macaques.
University of Pennsylvania professor of medicine Dr Drew Weissman, who has been studying mRNA and mRNA vaccines for decades, said they do not cause dangerous inflammation to animals.
Along with the vaccines for Pfizer and Moderna both passing animal trials, they also passed clinical trials on humans where they were tested on more than 70,000 people.
Carrie Madej is an osteopath who has claimed that the MRNA Covid-19 vaccines will convert us into genetically modified organisms by altering recipients' DNA
Carrie Madej
Carrie Madej is an osteopath who has claimed that the MRNA Covid-19 vaccines will convert us into genetically modified organisms by altering recipients' DNA (which carries genetic information).
As MRNA does not get incorporated into DNA, and all it does is code for the production of the virus' spike protein which stimulates antibody production, this is a false claim which Madej does not back with scientific evidence.
She has also claimed that vaccines will 'hook us all up to an artificial intelligence interface' - another bogus claim made without hard evidence.
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