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South Korea study does not show Covid vaccine causes cancer
Influencers claim that a study from South Korea shows that covid jabs cause cancer. That is not true.
In Autumn 2025 a paper in South Korea was published that excited many a vaccine sceptic online. The paper claimed that receiving a vaccination against Covid19 was linked to a 27% increase in cancer risk.
However, when you dig into the data there is no evidence that the vaccine caused the cancer. We spoke to Professor Justin Fendos to explain why we cannot take this type of statistical analysis at face value.
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Lizzy McNeill
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound engineer: James Beard
Last on
Sun 18 Jan 202611:50GMT
BBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
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- Sat 17 Jan 202605:50GMTBBC World Service except Australasia, East and Southern Africa, East Asia & South Asia
- Sun 18 Jan 202605:50GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa
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- Sun 18 Jan 202611:50GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa

