An image that appears to show a Pfizer-branded coronavirus vaccine “vaporizer cartridge” has gone viral online. This is a hoax: the pharmaceutical company Pfizer has not released a vape vaccine against COVID-19.
The photo being shared shows a package containing a cartridge that would be used in an electronic cigarette and inhaled as a vapor (here). It carries Pfizer-style branding and is described as a “single dose” vaccine cartridge. There are signs the label was printed as a joke; the box describes Pfizer as “makers of ‘the boner pill’”.
It was widely shared humorously as early as Dec. 19, for instance here and here .
While most shares of the image appear to recognise that the product is not real, it nonetheless generated confusion for some. A string of social media users shared the image with captions such as “Could this be fake?”, “Can you escape the RESET?” and “Why’s the Pfizer vaccine made in China?”, the latter comment being in response to text on the fake package reading “MADE IN CHINA”. The real vaccine is being made using Pfizer and BioNTech’s combined manufacturing network in Germany, Belgium and the United States (here).
Reuters contacted Pfizer who confirmed by email the vaporiser cartridge was fake. The real Pfizer vaccine is injected into the upper arm and given as two doses 21 days apart (here).
VERDICT
False. Pfizer did not make a COVID-19 vaccine cartridge designed to be “vaped” in an electronic cigarette. The product in the image was fake and likely made as a joke.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.