Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines all passed animal testing

The Claim: COVID-19 Vaccines Have Not Passed Animal Studies

Controversy continues to surround the use of ivermectin despite warnings from health officials and the lack of evidence that it has preventative benefits against COVID-19.

Now, some proponents of the pest control drug traditionally used for animals mistakenly claim that COVID-19 vaccinations have not passed animal studies.

“People who make horse medicine jokes get injections that haven’t passed animal studies,” claims an image in singer Ted Nugent’s Facebook post on Sept. 7.

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The Post received more than 2,500 shares in its first three days.

But the claim is wrong. Each of the COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States have been tested on animals.

USA TODAY has contacted Nugent for comment.

Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson each performed animal testing

Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson produce the only COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson continue to deploy vaccines under emergency use clearances. Pfizer became the first vaccine to gain official FDA approval in August.

All of them have conducted animal tests on their vaccines.

Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have each discussed animal studies of their vaccines in press releases. In each of the animal vaccine trials, the vaccines have been shown to effectively limit the contraction of COVID-19.

In the emergency use authorization forms from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, the FDA referred to the results of each of the animal studies of the vaccines.

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The results of these animal studies have also been published in peer-reviewed journals.

FDA spokeswoman Alison Hunt told USA TODAY that claim was “not true.”

In May, USA TODAY refuted a claim that manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines had to stop animal testing due to widespread deaths.

The story continues

Our rating: False

We deem the claim that COVID-19 vaccines have failed animal studies to be FALSE, based on our research. Each of the vaccines currently licensed for use in the United States have passed animal testing. The FDA referred to these studies in the emergency use authorization forms for Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, and an FDA spokesperson confirmed that claim to be false.

Our sources of fact-checking:

• The Associated Press, November 25, 2020, Pfizer and Moderna Didn’t Ignore Animal Trials

• USA TODAY, March. 27, Comparison of COVID-19 vaccines

• USA TODAY, Aug 23, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Becomes First to Get Full FDA Approval, Paving the Way for Boosters and Mandates

• Pfizer, September 9, 2020, PFIZER AND BIONTECH ANNOUNCE PRECLINICAL STUDY DATA OF RNA-BASED COVID-19 VACCINE CANDIDATE

• Moderna, July 28, 2020, Moderna announces the publication in the New England Journal of Medicine of a pre-clinical viral challenge study in non-human primates of its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273)

• Johnson & Johnson, July 30, 2020, Single Dose of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Demonstrates Robust Protection in Preclinical Studies

• Food and Drug Administration, December 11, 2020, Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Emergency Authorization Review Memorandum

• Food and Drug Administration, December 18, 2020, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Emergency Use Authorization Review Memorandum

• Food and Drug Administration, February 27, Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Emergency Use Authorization Review Memorandum

• Nature, February 1, BNT162b vaccines protect rhesus macaques from SARS-CoV-2

• The New England Journal of Medicine, October 15, 2020, Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-1273 vaccine in non-human primates

• Nature Medicine, September 3, 2020, Ad26 vaccine protects against severe clinical disease of SARS-CoV-2 in hamsters

• Alison Hunt, September 10, email correspondence with USA TODAY

• Reuters, June 1 Fact Check-COVID-19 vaccines failed to skip animal testing due to animal deaths

• USA TODAY, May 20, Fact Check: COVID-19 vaccine makers haven’t halted animal testing and there have been no widespread animal deaths

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact Check: COVID-19 Vaccines All Pass Animal Studies