Ron Johnson falsely claims COVID-19 vaccines spur virus variants

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) falsely asserted on conservative talk radio Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines both cause infection rather than preventing it and create new variants.

While calling into “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show,” Johnson said that not only are COVID-19 vaccines ineffective, but he theorized that mass vaccination causes new coronavirus variants.

“We have reports out of Denmark where you actually have potentially reverse efficacy, negative efficacy after about 90 days with a vaccine,” Johnson said. “The doctors I’ve been in touch with since the beginning have always been concerned about mass vaccination in the midst of the pandemic, could that be driving variants?”

Johnson appears to be referring to a preprint study from the Infectious Disease Preparedness Group at Statens Serum Institut, a Danish disease control and research organization. Multiple fact checkers, including Reuters and PolitiFact, agreed that early social media posts about the study greatly misrepresent its findings. The authors of the study themselves also refute the idea that the study shows vaccines are ineffective and cause infections and variants.

“Interpretation that our research is evidence of anything but a protective vaccine effect is misrepresentative,” Dr. Astrid Blicher Schelde, one of the authors of the study, told PolitiFact in an email.

The Infectious Disease Preparedness Group’s study pointed to a sharp decline in effectiveness in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against the omicron variant. However, the study also showed effectiveness is restored after a Pfizer booster (no conclusions were made with a Moderna booster.) The authors discussed in the study that the findings support the need for more vaccination efforts.

“In light of the exponential rise in Omicron cases, these findings highlight the need for massive rollout of vaccinations and booster vaccinations,” the study states.

Johnson is one of the most aggressive spreaders of COVID-19 misinformation in the U.S. federal government. Last week, he derided vaccination efforts over natural immunity, saying, “Why do we think that we can create something better than God in terms of combatting disease?” At a virtual town hall last December, the senator falsely claimed that mouthwash is a viable COVID-19 treatment.

Johnson announced his reelection campaign for a third term last Sunday, even though he previously pledged not to run for a third term in 2016 and dislikes being a senator.