Your Local Epidemiologist

It seems there is no disease that Covid-19 vaccines haven’t been accused of causing. The latest stemmed from news of the Princess of Wales announcing her cancer diagnosis. This has renewed the circulation of the rumor that Covid-19 vaccines are causing “turbo cancer.”

Where did this rumor come from? Is there a kernel of truth? What does the data show about cancer rates before and during the pandemic?

It first started when a doctor claimed on a podcast that a 61-year-old patient got cancer after getting the vaccine. Snippets were shared on social media thousands and thousands of times. 

This rumor was later perpetuated when a study with a single mouse developed cancer after getting a huge dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Since then, many more mice were tested, and this didn’t happen. Also, mice aren’t humans.

Social media, some physicians, and even politicians have since used the phrase “turbo cancer” to describe rapidly progressing or aggressive cancer allegedly caused by vaccination. This isn’t an official medical term. 

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