Cardiologist urges Malaysia to end COVID-19 vaccination program—but fact-checking website says he used misleading statements
A prominent cardiologist from the United States has made a video urging the government of Malaysia to shut down its COVID-19 vaccination program. According to a global fact-checking organization, however, the doctor’s comments contain multiple misleading statements and push information that has already been debunked.
Peter A. McCullough, MD, has gained popularity during the pandemic for making regular media appearances on Fox News and other outlets. In a nine-minute video he first recorded in September, McCullough said he believed “very strongly” that Malaysia should stop vaccinating its citizens due to the risks of vaccine-related side effects.
“It’s my recommendation that we go ahead and shut down the vaccination program,” he said. “It would be easier for Malaysia to simply treat the small number of people of COVID-19 and let them get through the infection as opposed to injure and hurt the population. We don’t know what’s going to happen with these vaccines.”
AFP, a fact-checking organization with offices all over the world, noted that this video has been shared throughout Singapore, Malaysia and other parts of the world on social media platforms and online forums. Many claims made in the video, AFP said in its analysis, “are misleading.”
For example, McCullough said in the video that asymptomatic individuals can’t spread COVID-19. However, AFP emphasized, this has already been debunked by the World Health Organization.
Also, McCullough said that vaccinations cause spike proteins to circulate throughout a person’s body and can potentially lead to death. AFP said it has already previously debunked that claim with input from multiple experts. The organization also provided links for readers to learn more.
McCullough does discuss the potential risk of vaccine-related myocarditis, which AFP confirmed is a “truthful” statement. However, he did not mention that this “very rare” complication is much more commonly seen as a side effect of a COVID-19 infection.
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Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.