No, Arati Prabhakar has not been arrested for treason

Context

Social media posts falsely claim that Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, was arrested on New Year's Eve 2023 by the Marine Corps on charges of treason.

The posts claim that "White Hats," a reference to QAnon adherents in the U.S. Government, discovered she had written a proposal to infuse drinking water with COVID-19 vaccines. The claim has been shared on Facebook and Twitter, and originates from the conspiratorial website Real Raw News.

However, the claim is false. 

In fact

An arrest similar to this would make major news publications, but no credible sources have reported on the story, only Real Raw News and minor conspiratorial websites. On January 1, 2024, Arati Prabhakar issued a statement from the White House Office of Science and Technology regarding the passing of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson. Johnson died on December 31, 2023, the day Real Raw News claims Prabhakar was arrested.

The Pentagon press office has confirmed to Logically Facts that the claim is false. 

The idea of infusing drinking water with COVID-19 vaccines is described by Real Raw News as an attempt to vaccinate people unknowingly by drinking tap water, thus forcefully vaccinating the U.S. populace. It is claimed that one gallon of COVID-19 vaccine would be needed per 1,000 gallons of water and that municipalities would have to weaken filtration systems used to cleanse drinking water to let the vaccine through. 

However, the plan would not be feasible. MRNA vaccines are fragile and must be stored at low temperatures to avoid disintegration. BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines need to be stored at –80°C and Moderna vaccines need to be stored at –20°C.

Logically Facts contacted Tove Fall, Professor at the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala University, who states that "RNA molecules are very sensitive and break easily. In drinking water, the vaccine would be heavily diluted and degrade rapidly."

Ali Mirazimi, Adjunct Professor Department of Laboratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, also dismisses the theory: "Generally, the mRNA vaccine is sensitive to temperature and would most likely lose its potency pretty quickly," he said, adding that it is unlikely that the vaccines could have an effect through being ingested orally.

Real Raw News has a history of publishing false claims about top U.S. officials being arrested. Logically Facts has previously checked such claims, including the CEO of Moderna having been executed at Guantanamo Bay, that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had been arrested or Anthony Fauci being arrested by American special forces. 

Qanon context and potential satire

The posts refer to "White Hats" discovering the supposed proposal, which refers to QAnon followers within the U.S. government. Real Raw News has published many QAnon-related claims over the years, leading to multiple fact-checks on its content. A disclaimer on their website states that the "Information of this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire." However, as Logically Facts has reported before, Real Raw News does not clearly state which articles are satire or not. The disclaimer has not always existed and was added sometime in April 2021. 

The verdict

There is no evidence of Arati Prabhakar having been arrested. The Pentagon press office has confirmed directly to Logically Facts that the claims are not true. Contrary to the claims, mRNA vaccines would degrade in water due to their fragile nature. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.