Did michael yeadon issue new claims about vaccine safety or efficacy in 2024?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Michael Yeadon remained active into 2024 in disputing mainstream accounts of COVID‑19 vaccine safety and in publicly demanding media apologies, and at least one 2024 outlet reported he had issued a formal demand to media about alleged “vaccine safety lies” [1]. Major fact‑checking outlets and mainstream reporting have repeatedly characterized his earlier claims—about infertility, depopulation and two‑year lethality—as unfounded or debunked, and the sources provided do not document a new, independently verified scientific finding issued by Yeadon in 2024 [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. What the record shows Yeadon did in 2024
At minimum, reporting establishes that Michael Yeadon publicly pressed media and critics in 2024, with at least one widely cited article in October 2024 saying he “demanded an apology from the media over vaccine safety lies” — a continuation of his long‑running public campaign questioning vaccine safety [1]. That article reproduces his stance that media and regulators have misrepresented or ignored harms he links to COVID‑19 vaccines, a position he has voiced since 2020 [1] [5].
2. What Yeadon has long claimed, and how that context matters
Yeadon came to public attention in 2020–2021 for making a series of high‑profile, contested claims: he and a colleague petitioned the European Medicines Agency alleging theoretical risks to placental protein syncytin‑1 and possible infertility, he warned governments were “lying” about vaccines and the pandemic, and he appeared in viral videos advancing depopulation narratives and worst‑case safety scenarios [2] [6] [7]. These earlier claims form the template for his later statements and are the reason his 2024 pronouncements were framed as a continuation of prior allegations rather than novel peer‑reviewed science [2] [6].
3. How mainstream and fact‑checking outlets responded
Mainstream outlets and multiple fact‑checkers have repeatedly found Yeadon’s central assertions to be unsubstantiated: Wikipedia and other summaries note his vaccine‑infertility claim was debunked by multiple fact‑checkers, and independent fact‑checks have rated many of his dramatic predictions (for example, “vaccines will kill recipients within two years”) as lacking empirical support even where he made the statements [2] [3]. Science‑based critics place Yeadon within an antivaccine/conspiracy ecosystem alongside other figures, arguing his hypotheses are speculative immunologic leaps rather than demonstrated outcomes [4].
4. Who amplified his 2024 statements and why that matters
The 2024 coverage cited here appears in outlets that have previously amplified skepticism toward vaccines or framed regulatory critics as censored whistleblowers; some sources republishing Yeadon’s demands are known for anti‑establishment or fringe perspectives, which creates an implicit agenda to challenge mainstream medical authorities [1] [8] [6]. Conversely, regulatory bodies and mainstream science journalists have an opposing incentive to stress the consensus on vaccine safety based on large datasets and peer‑reviewed studies [2] [5].
5. What is not shown by the available reporting
None of the supplied sources documents that Yeadon published new peer‑reviewed evidence in 2024 proving a novel vaccine safety failure or new efficacy analysis; the materials instead report public statements, demands for apologies, and reiteration of previously aired concerns [1] [5]. If there were a verifiable new scientific claim with supporting data in 2024, the provided reporting does not include that evidence, and mainstream fact‑checkers would likely have addressed it [2] [3].
6. Bottom line
Yes — Michael Yeadon issued public statements and was reported in 2024 as demanding apologies from media and reiterating claims that vaccines are unsafe, continuing themes from his 2020–2022 activism [1] [5]. No — the supplied sources do not show he produced new, independently verified scientific evidence in 2024 that overturned mainstream conclusions about COVID‑19 vaccine safety or efficacy; major fact‑checking and science outlets continue to treat his claims as unproven or debunked [2] [3] [4].