Anti-vax nurse hilariously attempts to prove COVID vaccines make you magnetic

Sorry, the vax will not turn you into Magneto.
 By 
Christianna Silva
 on 

There’s a hot new conspiracy about COVID-19 vaccinations and, boy, is it magnetic.

During a meeting of a state legislature health committee on Tuesday in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, a physician and "expert witness," testified that COVID-19 vaccines could make people magnetic. (They absolutely cannot.) That felt weird enough, but then it got even weirder. A woman who said she was a registered nurse attempted to prove Dr. Tenpenny's assertion by sticking some stuff to her chest.

"Vaccines do harm people," the nurse said. "By the way, so I just found out something when I was on lunch and I wanted to show it to you. We were talking about Dr. Tenpenny's testimony about magnetic vaccine crystals, so this is what I found out."


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She then pulled out a key and a bobby pin — bobby pins are typically coated in plastic — and pressed the key to her chest. The key stuck. Really makes you think, doesn't it?

"Explain to me why the key sticks to me," she asked. "It sticks to my neck too," she said, before pressing the key to her neck and having it promptly fall off. She also tried and failed to get the bobby pin to stick, as she said, "Yeah so if somebody can explain this, that would be great."

Not exactly a damning show of her magnetism.

Videos and photos of other people sticking magnetic things to their bodies soon began popping up everywhere. Some of them were serious, but many are in jest (we hope). Comedian Dana Goldberg tweeted a video of herself with a key stuck to her forehead and a spoon atop her nose.

"Oh my god I'm fully vaxxed. Holy shit," she said.

And she's not the only one poking fun at this absurd theory.

Unfortunately, it feels important to reiterate one more time that vaccines do not cause you to be magnetic. Metal sticks to your skin because you're a human being who is a little bit sweaty, and a key is small and light. And also possibly you are tipping your chest or your face a little bit up and gravity is helping. That's why all dads can balance a spoon on their noses — with or without the antibodies.

Topics Health

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Christianna Silva
Senior Culture Reporter

Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature of online creation under capitalism.

Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.

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