Imagine scrolling through your social media feed in Indonesia and coming across a post that stops you cold. It says a friend, a nurse who had once pushed everyone she knew to get vaccinated against COVID-19, has died. Then it says the cause is “turbo cancer,” a terrifying-sounding illness supposedly triggered by Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines. You might feel a knot in your stomach. You might think, “What if I got that shot? What if I got it for my children?” That is exactly how a conspiracy theory begins to take root. In September 2026, a Facebook post in Indonesian shared this exact story, mixing a personal tragedy with a false medical claim. The post stated that “turbo cancer affects recipients of the Pfizer & Moderna vaccines, and also some child vaccines that contain SV40.” It included a screenshot from William Makis, a Canadian physician who has been repeatedly fact-checked by AFP for spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. The trouble is that “turbo cancer” is not a real medical condition. It does not appear in any reputable diagnostic manual, and the World Health Organization has clearly stated that COVID-19 vaccines are safe. But in a country where vaccine hesitancy is rising, these viral claims are more than just annoying internet noise—they are dangerous.
Let’s take a closer look at where this “turbo cancer” idea actually comes from. The term is not from a respected medical journal or a cancer research institute. It is a word used by people who have built an entire online presence on fear. William Makis, the Canadian doctor featured in the post, has been debunked by AFP multiple times for claiming that COVID-19 vaccines cause “very aggressive cancers known as ‘Turbo Cancer.’” Another familiar name, Nicolas Hulscher, an epidemiologist who has also spread COVID-19 vaccine falsehoods that fact-checkers have repeatedly corrected, appeared in a Facebook video making an even more outlandish claim. Hulscher said he found “Pfizer plasmid DNA fragments” inside a “turbo heart cancer tumor.” The video was shared in Indonesian and English, on Instagram, TikTok, and X. A screenshot of the original false post was captured on October 5, 2026, with a red X mark added by AFP. These are not physicians doing careful research; they are repeat offenders in the misinformation world. They use scientific-sounding words like “plasmid DNA” and “mRNA” to sound credible, but when actual experts examine their claims, there is nothing underneath. The story is always the same: vaccines are dangerous, doctors are lying, and you should be afraid. This formula works because it plays on our deepest instinct to protect ourselves and the people we love.
Now, why is this taking hold in Indonesia? It is not happening in a vacuum. In June, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin revealed something alarming: the number of people rejecting vaccination in the country is going up. More and more parents are refusing to let their children receive vaccines. This is not just about COVID-19; it affects routine childhood immunizations too. The health minister’s comments were reported by Kompas, a major Indonesian news outlet, and they reflect a broader mood of suspicion that has been growing for years. During the pandemic, conspiracy theories were rampant in Indonesia, and they have not disappeared. AFP recently had to debunk false posts claiming that a new dengue vaccine developed in the country alters DNA, that the World Economic Forum proposed putting vaccines into drinking water, and that HPV vaccines cause infertility. All of these claims were false, yet they spread widely. Each one adds another layer of doubt. For a parent who is already exhausted, worried about their children’s health, and confused by conflicting information online, the decision to vaccinate can feel like a gamble. The “turbo cancer” story gives that doubt a name—an invented one—and makes it feel real. The post about the nurse who died is especially effective because it uses empathy as a weapon. It says, “She was one of you. She believed in vaccines. And she still lost her life.” It is a story designed to trigger fear, not to inform.
So what do actual experts say? We need to hear from the people who have spent their lives studying infectious diseases, cancer, and immunology. Dr. Paul Anantharajah Tambyah, who is the deputy chair of the Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore, was direct in his response. He told AFP that there is no evidence to suggest that mRNA vaccines cause cancer. “To date, there are no peer-reviewed publications showing an excess of cancer occurrences in people who have received mRNA vaccines,” he said. He also addressed the term “turbo cancer” directly. “Turbo cancer appears to be a sensationalist term that is not widely used in the medical literature,” he explained. He acknowledged that there are some cancers, such as certain lymphomas or germ cell tumors, that tend to grow very quickly. But he was clear: these rapid-growing cancers have not been reported to be associated with mRNA vaccination. This is an important point. The human body naturally produces some fast-growing cells, and certain cancers are aggressive by nature. But that has nothing to do with a vaccine. If you see a story that says “someone got a vaccine and then got cancer,” that is not a medical explanation. It is a coincidence, and a tragic one, but not a cause-and-effect link.
Another expert, Dr. Michael P. Gantier, who leads the Nucleic Acids and Innate Immunity Laboratory at Australia’s Hudson Institute of Medical Research, said he had never even heard of “turbo cancer.” That in itself is telling. If this were a real cancer subtype, a leading researcher would at least know the term. Instead, he had to explain that mRNA vaccines are actually being studied as potential tools to fight cancer. “The mRNA vaccines have actually been associated with better anti-tumour responses,” he told AFP. “So if anything, they would help against cancer by increasing the immune responses against it.” He pointed to a study showing that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines can make tumors more sensitive to a type of treatment called immune checkpoint blockade. In other words, instead of causing cancer, these vaccines may someday help the immune system fight it. This completely flips the conspiracy theory on its head. The World Health Organization agrees. According to the WHO, data from clinical trials and international regulatory reviews have shown a favorable safety profile for COVID-19 vaccines. Serious side effects are extremely rare relative to the more than 13 billion doses administered around the world. Thirteen billion doses. That is an enormous amount of real-world experience. If these vaccines were causing a wave of “turbo cancers,” the world’s cancer wards would be overflowing and doctors would be raising alarms. Instead, the only people talking about turbo cancer are the same online personalities whose names keep appearing in fact-check articles.
In 2024, Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Research also decided to address the claim directly. Their statement was blunt: “There is no such thing as ‘turbo cancer.’” They went on to say that false claims on social media have tried to link COVID-19 vaccines to cancer, suggesting that the vaccines are responsible for a rise in cancer cases or for causing quick, dangerous cancers. “There is no scientific evidence to support the claim,” they concluded. This is the kind of authoritative source we should rely on, not a video from someone with a social media following and a tendency to invent new diseases. But here is the challenge: fact-checking alone is not enough. If we simply tell someone, “That is false,” we are not addressing the fear that made them believe it in the first place. The woman reading the post about the nurse is not thinking about clinical trial data. She is thinking about her own children, her parents, her neighbors. She is remembering the chaos of the pandemic, the lockdowns, the loss. She wants to protect her family, and a story about a nurse who died after getting vaccinated feels like a warning. To counter that, we need to treat people with empathy while also giving them the truth. We can say: “I understand why this is scary. The story is fake, and here is what doctors around the world actually say.” That is not always easy, especially in an age when algorithms reward outrage and engagement. But it is necessary.
Maybe the most painful part of this whole trend is that it attacks something that has saved so many lives. Vaccines have all but eliminated diseases that once killed millions of children. They are the reason we can hug our grandparents, go to school, and travel. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines prevented countless hospitalizations and deaths. That does not mean they are perfect—no medical intervention is. But the idea that they are causing a hidden epidemic of “turbo cancer” is simply false, and continuing to share that lie has real consequences. It makes sick people afraid to get medical help. It makes parents skip vaccinations for their children, leaving them vulnerable to measles, whooping cough, and other diseases that can kill. It makes nurses and doctors feel betrayed when they see the very tools they use to heal being twisted into weapons of fear. The next time you see a message claiming that vaccines cause turbo cancer, pause before sharing. Look for credible sources. Ask your doctor. Read the WHO’s statements. Remember that for every viral post from a repeat misinformation spreader, there are thousands of scientists, doctors, and public health workers doing quiet, careful work to protect us. The truth is not always dramatic. It does not generate as many clicks as a chilling story about a dead nurse. But it is what we need. So let’s hold onto each other, share the evidence, and refuse to let the fear win. The vaccine is not your enemy. The real danger is the unchecked rumor that makes you turn away from it.