Analysis
Posts on X claim Jonas Salk’s vaccine was made from HeLa cells, implying that patients were injected with cancerous material. Influencers highlight the “dark truth” behind using Henrietta Lacks’ cells and insinuate that vaccines could cause cancer. In reality, HeLa cells were an invaluable research tool for developing polio vaccines; they are not an ingredient, and no evidence links polio vaccines to cancer.
Recommendations
Explain that HeLa cells were used for laboratory testing to grow and study the virus, not as a vaccine component. Emphasise that vaccine manufacturing involves rigorous purification processes to remove any cell material before the final product, and that extensive studies have found no association between polio vaccines and cancer. Highlighting the scientific and medical advances made possible by HeLa cells while acknowledging ethical concerns can help defuse the fear and misinformation.