Claims about vaccines administered 'via air' are recycled nonsense

^{By Ellen McCutchan}

A decade-old conspiracy theory alleging that the Australian government had approved the use of "chemtrails" to vaccinate the population forcibly has resurfaced with a fresh COVID-19 twist.

Chemtrails refers to the theory that governments or other organisations spray toxic chemicals into the atmosphere from aircraft as part of a secret operation.

In dozens of posts across social media, a link to a webpage belonging to the Department of Health's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) has been shared alongside claims that vaccines spread "via air" have been approved for use.

The link leads to a list of licence applications for "dealings involving an intentional release … into the environment" of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

"NEXT LEVEL AUSTRALIA!!! WE KNEW IT WAS COMING … BUT VACCINATION VIA AIR IS HERE!," a post accompanying the link reads.

"Australia Have Approved the License Application From Big Pharma Company PaxVax That Will Allow Them To Intentionally Release a GMO Vaxxine Consisting of Live Bacteria Into Queensland Skies, via the GEO-ENGINEERING program aka = Chemtrails."

Some variations of the claim also feature a video in which an unnamed man singles out a licence on the regulator’s webpage relating to a COVID-19 vaccine.

"They have been spraying a vaccine into the air for COVID-19," the man says.

Another social media user writes: “They are spraying us like bugs without our permission.”

But these claims are false.

A spokesman for the Department of Health confirmed to RMIT FactLab that "the Gene Technology Regulator has never approved, or been asked to approve, aerial distribution of any GMOs."

Moreover, the two licences referred to in social media posts as examples of apparent "vaccination via air" relate to vaccines administered orally and via a nasal spray, not via "chemtrails".

As made clear on the regulator’'s website, an "intentional release" of a GMO into the environment does not mean substances are being "sprayed" into the air.

Most licences issued by the regulator allow people to work with GMOs for scientific research in "laboratories, greenhouses, insectaries and other specialised facilities".

"Licences for all other work with GMOs are called a 'dealing involving intentional release into the environment' (DIR)," the regulator's website explains. "The GMOs are not contained within a facility."

'Dealings' is the legal name for the list of approved activities with a GMO, the website states.

Included under the DIR category are genetically modified crops grown in a field, genetically modified medicines and vaccines tested in a clinical trial and genetically modified medicines and vaccines for sale in a pharmacy or chemist.

The website further explains that "an intentional release into the environment of a GM vaccine means that a patient or trial participant is given a vaccine in a hospital or clinic rather than in a research laboratory. It may also mean they can purchase a GM vaccine at a pharmacy or chemist and bring it to their GP for administration."

In the case of the PaxVax vaccine highlighted on social media, the inoculation (which contained a modified cholera bacterium) was administered as an oral dose to trial participants at a clinical trial site in Queensland.

"Following the research phase, a commercial cholera vaccine product was licensed in 2021 under [licence number] DIR-174," the Department of Health spokesman said.

"This was again an oral dose to fully informed individuals who are travelling to cholera endemic countries."

Misinformation about the PaxVax vaccine has been circulating since at least 2013, according to a 2018 fact check published by Snopes. Similar claims were also debunked by AAP Fact Check last year.

As for the COVID-19 vaccine supposedly being administered by air, a 'Questions and Answers' document available on the OGTR website makes clear the licence relates to the "intranasal administration" (that is, administration via a nasal spray) of a COVID-19 vaccine at clinical trial sites.