The TikTok video claiming that people can "detox" their bodies from the COVID-19 vaccine by bathing in borax is outrageously false, experts say.
Carrie Madej, an osteopath from Georgia, claims in a TikTok video that has received hundreds of thousands of views that a bath containing baking soda, epsom salts, and the cleaning agent borax will "detox the vaxx" from anyone who has had a vaccine.
According to experts, such a bath may irritate the skin and eyes, but it will not eliminate the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Once you're injected, the lifesaving vaccination process has already begun," Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and adjunct professor at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, told NBC News.
"You can't unring a bell. It's just not physically possible."
In Kansas, Dana Hawkinson, the state university health system's medical director of infection prevention and control, told the Kansas City Star that borax was "potentially caustic and harmful."
Self-administered cupping - an alternative therapy involving suction that has no established advantages - has also been claimed by anti-vaccine groups to be able to reverse the effects of COVID vaccines. Instructions on how to "un-inject" a vaccine have been circulated on social media.
For years, anti-vaccination activists have promoted unproven and sometimes harmful vaccine "detox" therapies such as restrictive diets and supplements.
Misinformation has disseminated more widely thanks to social media and politicized opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates pushed by businesses and government bodies.
TikTok has become a venue for anti-vaccine influencers in particular. Madej's video was taken down, but people were able to share it by creating duets, a feature that allows users to add replies or context to an original video side by side.
Some of the duets, which have also gone viral, provide a list of ingredients for a "detox bath" or show users making their own detox baths.
Borax is used for a variety of things, including taxidermy, woodworm prevention, and food preservation. While it is less hazardous than other common pesticides, it has been banned as a food additive by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and studies have connected it to infertility and developmental issues.
Hawkinson also cautioned against using essential oils to treat or prevent COVID-19. The FDA has also issued a warning about the online misinformation.
COVID-19 has claimed the lives of about 762,000 people in the U.S. About 226 million people have received at least one vaccine dosage, and at least 195 million have received two, resulting in a vaccination rate of 58.7%.
