Fact check: Are Covid-19 vaccines linked to Monkeypox?

New Delhi, Jun 03: Social media is abuzz with speculations that the chimpanzee adenovirus vector used in AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine is behind the outbreak of Monkeypox.

Few also suggested that the infection is basically shingles and a "well-known" side effect of the jab.

Both claims have become subjects of intense discussion on Twitter with multiple posts and thousands of retweets.

"Who is surprised that after millions of people have been injected with genetically modified chimp virus, there is now an outbreak of monkeypox?" asked a Twitter user. The post had over 6,000 likes and over 2,000 retweets.

"Monkey pox = shingles. Shingles are a well-known side effect of the jab. You are being played. This narrative will not hold," wrote a Twitter user with thousands of likes and retweets.

Another Twitter user asked, "Is Monkeypox really shingles from the jab?" The post had nearly 10,000 likes.

Social media users have also highlighted a list of ingredients making up the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, known as Covishield in India, the most widely used preventive in the country.

However, experts have busted the myth terming it as misinformation. Adenoviruses and poxviruses are unrelated and shingles are not the same disease as monkeypox.

"While it is true the AstraZeneca vaccine uses a chimpanzee adenovirus vector in its formula, the virus has been mutated to prevent it from growing in human cells. The role of the vector is to carry the vaccine component into human cells, and it does not establish any sort of infection itself, a scientist told PTI.

The two claims - that AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine is behind the monkeypox outbreak and that monkeypox is basically shingles and a side effect of the Covid jab - are 'false'.