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<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSince the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, extremists across the ideological spectrum have used the virus as a platform for elaborate and alarming conspiracy theories. In\u00a0March and April 2020,<\/a>\u00a0antisemitic, anti-government and Sinophobic conspiracies about the virus\u2019s origins and \u201ctrue purpose\u201d were rampant online. In December 2020, as the COVID-19 vaccine was being shipped to frontline workers across the country, very familiar conspiracy theories took root in online spaces alongside mainstream concerns about vaccine distribution and effectiveness.<\/p>\n Purveyors of these theories suggest that the vaccine is a new form of population control or elevate debunked fears about the vaccine\u2019s side effects. Some are peddling antisemitic tropes about Jewish control of the virus and vaccine, while arguing that Black Americans should be used to test the vaccine\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n The following are a sampling of these conspiracy theories circulating online:<\/p>\n The \u201cJew Vaccine\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Antisemitism<\/a> has been an ongoing theme since the pandemic began, with conspiracies alleging that Jews are behind the coronavirus and are using it as a tool to expand global influence and derive profit. As countries begin administering the vaccine, Jews\u00a0are\u00a0once again the target of antisemitic conspiracies, mostly aimed at dissuading people from being vaccinated.<\/p>\n Much of the antisemitic messaging around the vaccine\u00a0highlights\u00a0Pfizer CEO Albert\u00a0Bourla\u2019s\u00a0Jewish heritage.\u00a0This fact provides antisemites with \u201cevidence\u201d that\u00a0the widespread vaccine effort is part of a calculated, long-term Jewish plot to institute a \u201cGlobal Jew Government,\u201d a new iteration of the age-old canard of\u00a0international Jewish\u00a0control<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some believe Jews will achieve this power by using the vaccine ingredients to sterilize the \u201cwhite race.\u201d\u00a0Still\u00a0others assert that the \u201cZOG\u201d\u00a0(Zionist Occupied Government)\u00a0<\/a>plans to\u00a0\u201censlave\u00a0of all humanity\u201d\u00a0by preventing the unvaccinated from working, travelling or going to school.<\/p>\n These antisemitic theories of the \u201cJew Vaccine\u201d proliferate across white supremacist and neo-Nazi websites like\u00a0Stormfront<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Daily Stormer<\/a>, as well as in antisemitic and coronavirus conspiracy\u00a0social media\u00a0channels. One conspiracy, posted to the white supremacist website\u00a0Stormfront<\/a>, alleges: \u201cThe Jews vaccine changes DNA so that the DNA itself will produce any proteins that the Jews program it to produce via 5G. This gives the Jews the ability to kill you by using 5G to tell the DNA to produce poisons.\u201d<\/p>\n Others evoke the Holocaust when discussing the vaccine.\u00a0A Greek newspaper<\/a>\u00a0compared Pfizer CEO\u00a0Bourla, who was born in Greece, to Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele, known for his gruesome medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners.\u00a0A UK newspaper<\/a>\u00a0printed an image of the\u00a0entrance to Auschwitz,\u00a0changing\u00a0the iconic\u00a0\u201cArbeit Macht Frei\u201d to \u201cVaccines are Safe Path to\u00a0Freedom,\u201d and vaccination\u00a0cards\u00a0have been\u00a0compared to the yellow star Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Nation of Islam (NOI)<\/a>\u00a0strongly\u00a0rejects current vaccination efforts \u2013 demonstrating a combination of general anxiety about vaccines and the history of medical experimentation on vulnerable populations of color, as well as conspiratorial claims alleging that the coronavirus vaccines were designed to intentionally harm Black people. NOI leader Louis Farrakhan asserts that the coronavirus vaccines are part of a \u201csatanic\u201d US government depopulation plot and that they are \u201cshots of toxic waste\u201d and a means to \u201cquicken death\u201d among Black people. In warning against the coronavirus vaccines, various NOI sources,\u00a0including prominent national leaders and official social media channels,\u00a0have implicated Jews in a larger conspiracy to target Black populations through vaccines.\u00a0During a December 6 sermon broadcast live from NOI headquarters at Chicago\u2019s Mosque Maryam,\u00a0Student Minister Ishmael Muhammad repeated Farrakhan\u2019s 2013 claim that Jews are given a special version of the flu shot, while other populations receive one with toxic chemical additives.\u00a0In his December 20 sermon,\u00a0Muhammad also referenced the \u201cSynagogue of Satan\u201d (an antisemitic phrase used to refer to Jews) for allegedly promoting vaccines to sterilize Black people.<\/p>\n Anti-government\u00a0Movement\u00a0Paranoia and Fear\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n For decades prior to the coronavirus pandemic,\u00a0some\u00a0anti-government extremists\u00a0warned that vaccines could be used as a means of extending government control over\u00a0the\u00a0population\u00a0or even as a tool to depopulate the United States. Across anti-government forums, the announcement of a vaccine rollout has been met with deep skepticism and fear. Many people\u00a0have\u00a0announced\u00a0that they will refuse the vaccine.<\/p>\n True to their anti-government beliefs, some have asserted that the vaccine is part of a nefarious government plot, though they differ on the putative objective. Some argue that it is part of a depopulation effort, perhaps to bring the narrative into accordance with conspiracy theorists\u2019 darkest beliefs regarding\u00a0Agenda 21 or Agenda 2030<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 voluntary United Nations programs designed to help countries meet sustainability goals, which some conspiracists believe will be used to take away civil rights.<\/p>\n Others assert that the vaccine will usher in mass surveillance by injecting microchips directly into people. As one user wrote on mymilitia.com, \u201cThey\u2019ve been working on a nano drug delivery system for almost a decade but probably longer\u2026 there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is the catalyst for complete surveillance, monitoring, and future banking\/money for anyone who survives anyway.\u201d Still others have shared articles about the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0\u201cimmunity cards\u201d as proof that the vaccine is part of a governmental effort to infringe on people\u2019s liberty by requiring people to prove they have been vaccinated before traveling.<\/p>\n Militia boards users express fear that the coronavirus vaccines are part of a globalist or foreign (usually Chinese) plot to lay the groundwork for an invasion. Posters are sharing articles alleging that Chinese agents have infiltrated the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the vaccines and intend to use the injections as part of \u201cunrestricted warfare\u201d to poison the U.S. military, leaving it incapable of fending off an invasion. As one commenter warns, \u201cCorona virus (covid-19) is a\u00a0man-made\u00a0bio-weapon\u00a0created by the Chi-Coms by splicing AIDS, SARS, and a Corona Virus\u201d [sic]. Adds another, \u201cThey are attacking just not with bullets and bombs.\u201d<\/p>\n QAnon\u00a0Adherents Echo Vaccine\u00a0Skepticism\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Those who populate the\u00a0numerous\u00a0QAnon-centric\u00a0online spaces are\u00a0similarly\u00a0skeptical\u00a0when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, with\u00a0concerns ranging from the efficacy and alleged undisclosed side effects of the vaccine to the existence of the vaccine itself.<\/p>\n In early December, as the vaccine roll-out began in Europe,\u00a0an article<\/a>\u00a0posted on the right-wing and conspiratorial website \u201cHealth & Money\u201d began to circulate on niche social media platforms like\u00a0Gab,<\/a>\u00a0Parler<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0MeWe. The article quoted two scientists, one of whom once worked for Pfizer, warning that the Pfizer vaccine might lead to infertility in women. While the article was\u00a0thoroughly debunked<\/a>,\u00a0it was picked up by many popular\u00a0QAnon\u00a0influencers who spun the story into narratives about\u00a0forced sterilization, population control\u00a0and genocide.<\/a><\/p>\n Some took this even further, speculating that the COVID-19 vaccine contains nanobots and technology to connect the recipient to a \u201cglobal hive mind.\u201d<\/p>\n When ostensibly mainstream conservative voices raise doubts about the vaccine, their baseless claims are picked up \u2013 and further amplified by \u2013 Qanon adherents.<\/p>\n For example,\u00a0Sidney Powell, formerly part of President Trump\u2019s legal team, joined the many voices warning about the alleged downsides of the vaccine. On December 4, in response to reports of government-issued vaccination cards,\u00a0Powell tweeted<\/a>: \u201cNO WAY #America. This is more authoritarian communist control imported straight from #China.\u201d<\/p>\n QAnon conspiracy theorists also express more conventional concerns about the vaccines, alleging that their long-term success is unproven, and their long-term side effects are unknown. But they take it a step further, claiming the vaccine is part of a massive, global experiment designed to permanently alter humans\u2019 genetic makeup.<\/p>\n Finally, there are those who believe that the vaccine does not exist at all. This theory is an extension of the claim that COVID-19 was entirely a hoax. Some who subscribe to the hoax theory believe that the people receiving the vaccine publicly are actors who have been hired to make the charade seem real.<\/p>\n White Supremacists\u00a0Allege\u00a0Sterilization, DNA Altering\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n White supremacists have\u00a0also\u00a0adopted\u00a0conspiracy theories about the vaccine\u2019s nefarious purpose and theoretical side effects.\u00a0Despite statements from medical professionals assuring the public of the\u00a0vaccine\u2019s\u00a0safety, online white supremacist\u00a0spaces\u00a0continue to push claims that the vaccine will permanently alter white DNA and will sterilize or even kill the recipient.\u00a0The vaccine is\u00a0seen\u00a0by some as\u00a0another coordinated attack against white people\u00a0and a threat to\u00a0the future of white children<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some white supremacists have turned this \u201cpopulation control\u201d conspiracy into a racist advocacy mission, pushing the hashtag \u201cVaxTheBlacks,\u201d and urging people of color to get vaccinated. The rationale, according to one Telegram poster: \u201cif you protected a sizeable portion of Whites from the sterilisation [sic] vaccine; the world would be ripe for the reconquering by the Aryan man.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cVaxTheBlacks\u201d hashtag is spreading across white supremacist social media channels, couched as fake concern for the Black community, which has been disproportionally impacted by\u00a0coronavirus.\u00a0They\u00a0offer to give up their place in their vaccine line so that more people of color can be prioritized (and\u00a0therefore, according to their conspiracy,\u00a0sterilized or harmed). One Telegram user posted: \u201cTo make reparations for the hardship of White colonialism, blacks should get free COVID vaccinations and get the injections first to protect them from the pandemic\u201d\u00a0while another responded to the vaccination of Sandra Lindsay, a New York City nurse and the first American to receive the vaccine, with a post reading, \u201cI’m so proud that the first person to receive this vaccine was a\u00a0much-disenfranchised\u00a0person of\u00a0color. We have come so far as a society. All I ask now is that whites continue to realize their privilege and get out of the way. Make sure every black person has gotten the vaccine before a single white decides to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n This weaponization of the vaccine mirrors the\u00a0early days of the pandemic,\u00a0when white supremacists posted memes encouraging people to\u00a0intentionally\u00a0infect elected officials and marginalized<\/a>\u00a0communities\u00a0with the virus.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Screen-Shot-2021-01-27-at-10.19.20-AM.png\")
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