Social media users are claiming that COVID-19 case numbers are much higher than before there was a COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting that the vaccine has caused the high number of cases.
One post (here) reads: “Hi, I don’t mean to bother you but COVID cases are much higher now then (sic) before there was a vaccine.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains (here) that the COVID-19 vaccine cannot give the recipient the COVID-19 virus.
Reuters Fact Check has previously debunked claims that the COVID-19 vaccine does not give the person receiving the vaccine a new COVID-19 infection (here), (here) .
It is true that COVID-19 case numbers are at their highest, as seen in a graph by the CDC (here). This is due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant (here).
Another graph by the CDC (here) shows that COVID-19 deaths in the United States are lower than January 2021.
While more transmissible, the Omicron variant appears to be milder than the Delta variant (here). A study published on Jan. 11, 2022 (here) found that the Omicron variant caused fewer and shorter hospitalizations overall, as discussed (here).
VERDICT
Missing context. COVID-19 case numbers are high due to the Omicron variant, not because the COVID-19 vaccine causes the virus.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.