FACT-CHECK: Scientists did not say ‘COVID vaccines were ineffective,’ circulating flyer is fake

Claim: Daily Mail flyer claims scientists have admitted COVID-19 vaccines were ineffective.

Source: Facebook

Verdict: Fake

Researched by Nusrat Essah

A Facebook user, Emefa Jeanny, shared a flyer supposedly of the Daily Mail, a tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom, on September 18, 2025, claiming that scientists have admitted that COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective.

The flyer, featuring the Daily Mail logo, reads: “Scientists finally admit Covid vaccines were INEFFECTIVE,” while the post was captioned: “Do you agree…? Wake up. Truth is indeed an experience.” The caption also included the link to the article from the Daily Mail.

GhanaFact noted that the original post by the user, which circulated on WhatsApp and was tagged as “Forwarded many times,” has been edited to the screenshot above. 

Meanwhile, GhanaFact has noted that the person making the claim has now deleted the post on Facebook, however,  the claim was shared on other platforms such as X and Instagram. 

Fact-Check

Whereas the flyer uses “ineffective” in references to the efficacy of COVID vaccines, the Daily Mail article said the jabs were only “less effective.” 

The link attached to the Facebook post, led to a UK Daily Mail article titled: “Scientists finally admit the Covid vaccines are less effective than claimed – 50 per cent rapidly lose protection.”

The article was sourced to a research by Japanese scientists that found that while Pfizer and Moderna vaccines offered strong protection against severe disease, immune protection against infection declined faster than expected. 

“But new research by Japanese scientists indicates that, while the mRNA jabs made by Pfizer and Moderna undoubtedly prevented severe illness, immune protection dipped much faster than expected…. Nearly half of participants—the ‘rapid decliners’ and ‘vulnerable responders’—lost substantial antibodies within just nine months of a booster,” the article reads.

Fake flyer

GhanaFact searched the social media platforms of the Daily Mail (Facebook and X) and found that the outlet had not published any flyer about the vaccine’s effectiveness.

Therefore, the flyer attributed to the Daily Mail is fake.

What did the Japanese scientists say?

GhanaFact further reviewed the Japanese scientists’ report published on September 17, 2025.

According to the research: 

• The survey was conducted from April 2021 to November 2022
• A total of 2,526 participants were involved 
• Each participant had received either the Pfizer BNT162b2 or Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine 
• Participants were recruited from rural areas in Japan, including Soma City, Minami Soma City, and Hirata Village.

By analysing the antibody/immunity levels, the researchers identified three (3) populations: 

• Those with durable immunity
• Those with limited immunity (vulnerable), and 
• Those who started with strong immunity but experienced rapid waning (rapid-decliner). 

They stated that two groups among the three (thus, the vulnerable and the rapid-decliner) did not maintain their immunity levels at high enough concentrations; therefore, they are at risk for infection even after booster vaccination.

“Our analysis indicates that certain populations, specifically the vulnerable (g4) and rapid-decliner (g3) populations, may not maintain their antibody titers at high enough concentrations for an extended period after booster vaccination. 

“We found that these two groups were at high risk for infection after booster vaccination; g4 had a higher percentage of breakthrough infections compared with the other groups, whereas g3 experienced breakthrough infections more rapidly,” the report said.

However, it is important to note that the researchers in the publication emphasise that the study has not been peer-reviewed, proofread, or formally published; therefore, the results remain inconclusive.

WHO AIRA response to ‘ineffective’ vaccine claims

To further verify the accuracy of the claim by the researchers that COVID vaccines became less effective over time, GhanaFact contacted the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance of the World Health Organisation (WHO AIRA) through email. In their response, they stated: 

“Available evidence indicates that vaccines continue to provide strong and sustained protection against severe disease caused by Omicron subvariants. By contrast, protection against mild disease and infection is lower than against pre-Omicron variants and wanes more rapidly. Older adults and persons with comorbidities remain at the highest risk of severe disease outcomes, accounting for the majority of COVID-19 deaths.” 

The Daily Mail article cited in the Facebook post never said vaccines were ineffective. It reported that while vaccines remain effective against disease, protection against infection decreases over time.

Verdict:

Japanese scientists have not admitted that COVID vaccines were ineffective, the claim is False. The scientists said vaccines were less effective over time and that the research remains inconclusive because it has yet to be peer-reviewed or published.

NB: This script has been updated to include an email response from WHO AIRA.