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Read more here ![\\"democrat_symbol\\"](\\"/design/images/democrat_symbol.png\\"/) Fact Check # Are People Receiving Vaccines With More Ingredients Than FDA Approved? ## Allegedly, shots contained more than double the ingredients federal regulators OK\'d. ### Jessica Lee ### Published Oct. 27, 2021 Updated Nov. 1, 2021 ![\\"Senior](\\" Senior female is about to receive Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine (Image courtesy of Getty Images) Claim: While the \"FDA approved version\" of COVID-19 vaccinations include three ingredients, people are being injected with shots containing seven. Rating: False About this rating Context The FDA has granted Pfizer\'s formula \"full approval\" and has deemed vaccines by Moderna and Johnson & Johnson safe and effective with \"emergency use authorizations.\" Advertisement: Snopes is still **fighting** an “infodemic” of rumors and misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and you can help. **Find out** what we\'ve learned and how to inoculate yourself against COVID-19 misinformation. **Read** the latest fact checks about the vaccines. Submit any questionable rumors and “advice” you encounter. **Become a Founding Member** to help us hire more fact-checkers. And, please, follow the **CDC** or **WHO** for guidance on protecting your community from the disease. In Oct. 25, 2021, a Snopes reader alerted us to an alleged conspiracy regarding COVID-19 vaccine ingredients. According to the rumor, vaccine recipients were supposedly being injected with formulas containing more ingredients than what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had \"approved\" for the immunizations. \"The FDA approved version of the \'vaccine\' had 3 ingredients. The version being injected into the public has 7,\" the reader wrote to us, referring to a post supposedly seen on Facebook. ![\\"\\"](\\" FEATURED-IMG-2-2.png\\") Advertisement: The reader\'s inquiry included other claims, including the false notion that FDA-endorsed formulas by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) did not \"fit the definition\" of vaccines but were rather \"experimental treatments\" for the coronavirus. (Here\'s a portal of evidence on the FDA\'s website outlining the agency\'s approval of the immunizations, debunking that assertion.) For the purpose of this fact check, however, we will focus on the allegation about the immunizations\' amount of ingredients. [See also from Snopes: _Does J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Contain Aborted Fetal Cells?_] Before we address the crux of the claim, a note on semantics: As of this writing, the FDA had only granted \"full approval\" to one type of vaccine — Pfizer\'s. However, the federal agency gave the formulas by Moderna and J&J \"emergency use authorizations\" (EUA), allowing for their mass distribution to help end the deadly pandemic as fast as possible. That endorsement, while it was not a full approval, confirmed the shots\' safety and effectiveness after testing them on tens of thousands of people. While the post displayed above used the phrase \"FDA-approved\" without specifying which immunization it was referring to, we considered ingredients for all three vaccines, no matter if they had full FDA approval or EUA\'s. Advertisement: Firstly, here\'s the FDA\'s list of ingredients for Pfizer\'s shot, as outlined via documentation on its website: > mRNA, lipids ((4- > hydroxybutyl)azanediyl)bis(hexane-6,1-diyl)bis(2-hexyldecanoate), 2 > [(polyethylene glycol)-2000]-N,N-ditetradecylacetamide, 1,2-Distearoyl-sn- > glycero-3-phosphocholine, and cholesterol), potassium chloride, monobasic > potassium phosphate, sodium chloride, dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate, > and sucrose. In other words, the formula contained mRNA molecules (the messenger ribonucleic acids that help immune systems fight COVID-19), as well as salt, sugar, a variety of fatty acids and a handful of other compounds, for a total of seven ingredients. Next, we considered the FDA\'s list of elements that make up Moderna and J&J\'s formulas, respectively. They are as follows, according to FDA records obtained by Snopes: ![\\"\\"](\\" Shot-2021-10-27-at-5.32.06-PM.png\\") Advertisement: ![\\"\\"](\\" Shot-2021-10-27-at-5.34.02-PM.png\\") Like Pfizer\'s shot, those immunizations contain seven or eight ingredients — not three, like the post claimed. Next, we sought evidence to confirm or deny the allegation that vaccine administrators at certified sites across the U.S.— either at clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, etc. — had injected people with fluids that did not contain the above-listed ingredients. We found no reported instances of that happening, whether intentionally or unintentionally. (That\'s not to say fraudulent vaccines don\'t exist. Get more information from the FDA on those here.) In sum, we considered the claim that people were receiving COVID-19 vaccinations containing more ingredients than what the FDA had endorsed for the public a baseless conspiracy theory. As such, we rate this claim \"False.\" Advertisement: More Snopes\' fact checks addressing rumors about COVID-19 vaccine ingredients: * No, the mRNA Vaccines Do Not Contain Graphene Oxide * Does Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Contain Aborted Fetal Cells? * No, mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Do Not ‘Alter Your DNA’ #### Sources “US Regulators Give Full Approval to Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine.” Snopes.Com, pfizer-covid-19-vaccine/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2021. Commissioner, Office of the. “Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine.” FDA, Oct. 2021. response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/moderna-covid-19-vaccine. Commissioner, Office of the. “Comirnaty and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.” FDA, Oct. 2021. response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/comirnaty-and-pfizer-biontech- covid-19-vaccine. Commissioner, Office of the. “Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine.” FDA, Oct. 2021. response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/janssen-covid-19-vaccine. #### Updates This report was updated to clarify that mRNA molecules are messenger ribonucleic acids that help immune systems fight COVID-19. ### By Jessica Lee Jessica Lee is Snopes\' Senior Assignments Editor with expertise in investigative storytelling, media literacy advocacy and digital audience engagement. ## Article Tags COVID-19 COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations Advertisement: ![\\"Snopes.com\\"](\\"/design/images/logo-main.png\\") Company About Us FAQs Contact Us Submit a Topic Navigate Home Search Archive Newsletters Random Sections Latest Top Fact Checks News Account Join Login Game FactBot Like Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter © 1995 - 2024 by Snopes Media Group Inc. This material may not be reproduced without permission. 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While the FDA approved version of COVID19 vaccinations include three ingredients people are being injected with shots containing seven