Busted: The '5G Chip' In COVID-19 Vaccines Is Actually A Guitar Pedal!

COVID-19 is a global public health issue, but it has also been the topic of some major conspiracy theories that can spread so quickly. One such theory is that the COVID-19 vaccine will actually insert a 5G chip into people so that governments can track their movements.

However, a recent illustration of this supposed "5G chip" that circulated online just blew a hole in the conspiracy theory because, as it turns out, the illustration is actually of guitar pedal from the company Boss, Futurism reported.

The illustration recently made the rounds online in Italy and was pointed out by open-source advocate Mario Fusco.

"Here in Italy people started to share this figure claiming that this is the diagram of the 5G chip that has been inserted in the covid vaccine," Fusco tweeted. "In reality, it is the electric circuit of a guitar pedal and I believe that putting it in the covid vaccine has been an excellent idea."

In the "confidential" image, one can even see labels such as "volume," "treble" and "bass."

It remains unclear how often the illustration has been shared, but it is really just one of the many conspiracy theories that experts have had to explain amid the pandemic.

Sticking to the theme of 5G, there is also a conspiracy theory claiming that 5G is to blame for COVID-19. As Cornell Alliance for Science explained, this is possibly because the pandemic began around the same time that 5G networks were quickly being rolled out.

"It's worth repeating, as the World Health Organization (WHO) points out, that viruses cannot travel on mobile networks, and that COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in many countries that do not have 5G networks," the organization explained.

Unfortunately, this conspiracy theory spread quite fast and has even led to some 5G infrastructures being burned down in places like the U.K.

UNESCO shared several ways of spotting conspiracy theories and fake news to stop its spread. This includes verifying the source of the information, checking the date when a story was published, checking for the outlet's bias, making sure that it's not a joke or a satire, reading beyond what may be a shocking headline and researching for facts on the subject matter.

The WHO also has a page that provides a wide variety of information that debunks some common COVID-19 myths.