A former Brexit Party candidate faced backlash today for wrongly claiming Japan had banned Covid vaccines.
Jim Ferguson, who narrowly missed becoming an MP in the 2019 general election, said jabs made by companies such as Pfizer and Moderna were linked to the “skyrocketing number of deaths”.
Her post, which linked to an article reporting the false claim, was viewed millions of times.
Embarrassed MP Andrew Bridgen, who was expelled from the Conservative party for comparing the vaccine rollout to the Holocaust, shared a similar post which mentioned the non-existent ban in Japan.
Japan has never banned mRNA Covid vaccines, although claims are circulating widely on social media among anti-vaccine groups who believe the jabs are behind a sudden wave of deaths in the UK and beyond.
Jim Ferguson (pictured), who narrowly missed becoming an MP in the 2019 general election, said jabs made by companies such as Pfizer and Moderna were linked to the “skyrocketing number of deaths”.
In Ferguson’s original post on government official linked injections to rising sudden deaths.’ Pictured is Ferguson (second right) in May 2019.
Leading doctors, experts and charities have repeatedly insisted the shots are safe.
They are credited with saving 20 million lives in their first year of deployment alone, as well as ending the series of Covid lockdowns that paralyzed economies and separated families.
However, ILike any medical product, injections have a variety of side effects that vary in frequency and severity.
Covid mRNA shots, such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna, have been linked to rare reports of myocarditis, a potentially dangerous inflammation of the heart.
The vast majority of cases were mild and resolved on their own.
Studies have also shown that the risk of myocarditis, which can also be caused by an infection like Covid, was higher from the virus than from the vaccine.
Reacting to the claims currently sweeping social media, Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, told MailOnline: “Some people struggle with the truth.
‘A recent study in Japan showed that reports of adverse effects from mRNA vaccines were consistent with those reported by other nations.
“Yes, they can occur, but they are rare and their beneficial effects are vastly outweighed, especially in vulnerable people.”
Dr Doug Brown, chief executive of the British Society for Immunology, said: “Safety and effectiveness assessments of all medicines and vaccines are based on a robust and comprehensive analysis of the evidence.”
‘These assessments are carried out as standard for all vaccines and medicines authorized in the UK.
‘There is now a wealth of evidence from multiple studies showing that Covid vaccines, including mRNA vaccines, are the safest and most effective way to prevent serious illness and death from Covid, and the benefits of getting vaccinated far outweigh the risks. in the vast majority of people.
In Ferguson’s original post on government official linked the injections to rising sudden deaths.
‘Like many other countries around the world, Japan has been battling a crisis of sudden and unexpected deaths that have skyrocketed since 2021.
‘The problem has become so serious in Japan that the country now faces a demographic collapse as more citizens die than are born.
“New studies in Japan have linked rising deaths to Covid injections.”
Covid mRNA shots, such as those made by Pfizer and Moderna, have been linked to rare reports of myocarditis, a potentially dangerous inflammation of the heart. However, the vast majority of cases were mild and resolved on their own.
The words in his post appear to have been copied and pasted from a news story written by Prepare for Change.
X readers also trashed Mr. Ferguson’s post.
One responded with a link to a Japanese news website that reported how the country approved another type of mRNA vaccine against Covid in December.
Others suggested the publication had misinterpreted a change in Japan’s Covid vaccine rollout. Starting in April, many Japanese residents are expected to have to pay for the shots.
His Government, “like most countries in the world, still recognizes the benefit that vaccines bring to vulnerable people”, Professor Ball also told MailOnline.
Blood clots caused by a rare adverse reaction to the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine are known to have led to 81 deaths and a higher number of injuries.
For context, more than 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been used in the United Kingdom. It is not an mRNA vaccine.