In recent weeks, messages have emerged on social networks, worrying about the presence of potassium chloride in the composition of the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine.
A chemical compound that some say could even be used during lethal injections abroad, especially in the United States.
Are these statements correct?
We take stock.
Where does this concern come from?
Several Internet users have relayed in recent days on Twitter and Facebook, messages evoking with fear the presence of potassium chloride in the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine.
Some even add that the mineral compound would be used during "lethal injection" in the United States, citing various foreign press articles.
"I sincerely hope that this info is not real, if it were to be confirmed our world would be really in peril as it never has been", one can read in some comments.
There is Potassium Chloride in Pfizer's Gene Vaccine. K Chloride is given for low levels of potassium in the blood.
Its administration can cause cardiac arrest if the potassium level is too high.
Used for those on death row pic.twitter.com/Wm5iVP27hH
- Kreisz Nathalie (@NathalieKreisz) January 18, 2021
Does the vaccine contain any?
If we look closely at the composition of the Pfizer vaccine, we actually find potassium chloride, in very small amounts, as well as potassium monobasic.
The American Agency of Food and Drug Administration (Food and Drug Administration) specifies that a dose of vaccine includes 0.3 ml of potassium chloride, or "the equivalent of a pinch of salt", note to the Parisian Faïza Bossy, doctor and nutritionist.
“This component has an essential role: it helps maintain and preserve the composition of the vaccine.
It prevents the serum from degrading too quickly, ”she explains.
It still helps maintain a certain pH balance for the vaccine, so that it can approach that which is naturally observed in the human body.
“To limit the risks, it is obvious that we will prefer to work with chemical compounds that we know very well, such as potassium chloride.
Its use is absolutely nothing surprising and even less worrying, ”adds Fabienne El-Khoury, epidemiologist at Inserm.
Why is its use not exceptional?
Many vaccines in France as elsewhere contain potassium chloride in very low doses.
Likewise, its use is recommended in the treatment of hypokalaemia, that is to say when the body suffers from a low level of potassium in the blood, which can lead to cramps, contractions or even paralysis of the blood. muscles.
The WHO classifies it in its list of essential drugs, adding that it can even be administered to children.
Its "vital character" must even be recalled, insists to AFP Scott Halperin, director of the Canadian Vaccination Center: "If there was no potassium chloride, we would all die".
Finally, the compound is also present in our food.
It is found in particular in certain processed products (crisps, sauces, soups, etc.).
“With its salty taste, this additive can be used as a substitute for cooking salt or as a flavor enhancer, especially in cold meats,” adds Faïza Bossy.
Why the question of its dosage remains essential?
Like any chemical compound, the question of its dosage obviously remains essential.
With such a small amount present in the BioNTech / Pfizer serum, “no adverse effects have yet been observed in connection with potassium chloride,” insists Fabienne El-Khoury.
“Generally, the side effects of the vaccine follow a reaction of the immune system.
This is not the body's response to a toxin, ”adds the epidemiologist.
An overdose of potassium chloride can, however, lead to tragic consequences giving rise to severe symptoms (paralysis, hypotension, respiratory arrest) or even death.
In France, a hospitalized patient died in 2001, following the accidental injection of 4 grams of potassium chloride intravenously.
Morning essentials newsletter
A tour of the news to start the day
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
READ ALSO>
Covid-19
: is vitamin
D really effective in the fight against severe forms
?
Finally, in the United States, the substance can be used effectively in overdose and in addition to other paralyzers to stop the heart.
Its use has been observed in death sentences in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
"It is estimated that the lethal dose is approximately 100 mg / kg intravenously," says Dr Faïza Bossy.
Doses therefore incommensurate with those, tiny, diluted in a vaccine.