Do You Need A Detox Supplement After Covid Vaccine Or Infection? What Experts Say

Last Updated:June 08, 2025, 17:33 IST

“There’s nothing to detox from, because the vaccines are not toxins. They’re not toxic and they’re not harmful,” Dr Angela Rasmussen, a virologist

Podcast host Meghan McCain recently posted in support of a detox supplement. (File/X)

Podcast host Meghan McCain, the former co-host of ‘The View’, recently made headlines with her social media post in support of a “detox" supplement to be taken after Covid-19 vaccination or infection.

The ‘detox’ supplement McCain touted cost $89.99 and is one of the several versions sold online. It make claims about its ability to “break down spike protein and disrupt its function" and provide “your body with unparalleled support for cellular defense and detoxification."

Neither McCain’s representatives nor the company has commented so far. Vaccine experts, however, insist such claims are nonsense.

‘DO YOU WANT TO DETOX YOUR IMMUNITY?’

“There’s nothing to detox from, because the vaccines themselves are not toxins," Dr Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan, told CNN. “They’re not toxic and they’re not harmful."

McCain also posted this week about “concerning data" about mRNA vaccines and said friends had experienced health problems after getting the Covid-19 shot. As part of the post, she shared a video that suggested material in the vaccines could stick around long-term and change a person’s genome.

The messenger RNA in Covid-19 vaccines instructs cells in the body to make a certain piece of the virus’ spike protein — the structure on the surface of the coronavirus. The mRNA vaccine is like a blueprint that the body uses to train the immune system to recognize the virus that causes Covid and protect against it, Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told CNN.

“MRNA is only in there in minute amounts," Schaffner said. “The spike protein is metabolised. It’s broken up by our own body very, very quickly. So it’s not in a position to disseminate or be distributed throughout the body requiring some sort of ‘detoxification’. “It’s simply not scientifically a valid concept."

Since mRNA is so short-lived, vaccine makers do make a modification that allows it to stick around a little longer than it would otherwise, Rasmussen said. “But mRNA, even modified mRNA like in these vaccines, does not stay around forever," Rasmussen said. “It’s still not a very stable molecule."

Rasmussen said she has also read that some believe the lipid nanoparticle used to get the mRNA into the cells lingers and is toxic. The lipid nanoparticle, Rasmussen said, “also don’t stick around forever". She said they get broken down at about the same rate the mRNA does, “or even maybe a little before."

“I wonder if the very name of the protein, this ‘spike protein’ just makes people uneasy," Schaffner told CNN. If scientists called it something like the “key protein" — since it’s like a key that goes into a lock in the cell, which enables the protein to get inside “and then do its good work" — that “might not have evoked quite as much anxiety," Schaffner suggested.

SUPPLEMENT MAKERS AIMING FOR PROFITS

Unlike pharmaceuticals, which must be tested and approved before they go to market and then comply with strict regulations about how they can be marketed, the US Food and Drug Administration doesn’t have the authority to approve dietary supplements before they are marketed. Fear or distrust of Covid-19 vaccines is an easy target for supplement makers, Cohen said.

“This is a perfect scenario for supplements to jump in to the rescue," Cohen said. “You manufacture a false health concern, and then you have the solution that you can settle with a supplement. It’s really a perfect opportunity for supplement manufacturers to profit from. From something that doesn’t even exist."

“Are you trying to wash away the effects that boosted immunity against Covid? Is that the goal? I think it’s a very vague, moving sort of target," Cohen told CNN. “Or is it more that there’s some fear that the Covid vaccine causes more harm than the government’s letting on. Then the idea is that you sell these supplements to prevent that mystery harm….I think it’s a health fear mongering approach and profiting by the fear."

No vaccine is perfect, the experts said, but the risk with the Covid vaccine is extremely small and the problems like a sore arm or a low-grade fever that some of his patients have experienced resolved quickly. “That’s not something that any supplement will help resolve faster," Cohen said.

Research has consistently shown that the mRNA Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and millions of people have gotten them without serious incident.

With Inputs From CNN

News world Do You Need A Detox Supplement After Covid Vaccine Or Infection? What Experts Say