A recent viral TikTok video claimed that vaping reduces the risk of contracting COVID-19. Given that the coronavirus causes respiratory illness, smoking doesn’t seem like it would be all that preventative.
We did a keyword search. And none of the results suggest that vaping reduces the chances of getting COVID-19. In fact, all of them say the opposite.
An article from Scientific American says vaping could increase your risk of coronavirus infection since experts say that smoking suppresses immune function.
The University of California San Francisco said that smokers could actually take longer to recover from respiratory infections.
And the National Institute on Drug Abuse warns that vaping harms cells, and could potentially diminish your ability to respond to infection.
There aren’t a ton of studies on the link between vaping and COVID-19 specifically, but there is enough evidence that it certainly wouldn’t help. We rate this TikTok video: Not Legit.
MediaWise is a digital literacy project aimed at empowering people to separate fact from fiction online. Dozens of teens work with us virtually from across America to fact-check content online as members of the MediaWise Teen Fact-Checking Network.
