Vetted COVID-19 Facts
Link to the original article (updated): https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/featured-topic/covid-19-vaccine-myths-debunked
By Frédéric Martin, Editor-in-Chief
MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccine is not safe because it was rapidly developed and tested.
FACT: The pandemic’s emergency warranted an emergency response but that does not mean that companies bypassed long-established safety protocols or didn’t perform adequate testing.
MYTH: I already had COVID-19 so I don’t need to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
FACT: Because reinfection is possible and COVID-19 can cause severe medical complications, it is recommended that people who have already had COVID-19 get a vaccine.
MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccines don’t work because you can still get COVID after vaccination.
FACT: COVID-19 vaccinations protect most people from getting sick with COVID-19, ranging from 66% to 100% effective. A very small percentage of fully vaccinated people can still get COVID-19 breakthrough cases if they are exposed to the COVID-19 virus. However, vaccination might make the illness less severe, and the overall risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death is much lower than among unvaccinated people with similar risk factors.
MYTH: COVID-19 vaccines don’t protect against the COVID-19 variants.
FACT: The delta variant is nearly twice as contagious as earlier variants and might cause more severe illness. While research suggests that COVID-19 vaccines are slightly less effective against the variants, the vaccines still protect from severe COVID-19.
MYTH: Children can’t get severely sick with COVID-19, so they don’t need a COVID-19 vaccine.
FACT: (Nov 4 Mayo clinic website revision) A COVID-19 vaccine can prevent your child from getting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.
If your child gets COVID-19, a COVID-19 vaccine could prevent him or her from becoming severely ill or experiencing short-term or long-term complications. Children with other health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and asthma, might be at higher risk of serious illness with COVID-19.
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine can also help keep your child in school and more safely have playdates and participate in sports and other group activities.
MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccine was developed to control the general population either through microchip tracking or “nanotransducers” in our brains.
FACT: There is no vaccine microchip, and the vaccine will not track people or gather personal information into a database.
MYTH: COVID-19 vaccines will alter my DNA.
FACT: The messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines work by instructing cells in the body how to make a protein that triggers an immune response. Injecting mRNA into your body will not interact or do anything to your cells’ DNA. Human cells break down and get rid of the mRNA soon after they have finished using the instructions.
MYTH: COVID-19 vaccines were manufactured using fetal tissue.
FACT: Neither the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine nor the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines contain fetal cells nor were fetal cells used in production of either vaccine. While the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may have its production based on an adenovirus and historical immortalized embryonic cell origin, it does not contain embryonic cells.
MYTH: COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility or miscarriage.
FACT: There is currently no evidence that any COVID-19 vaccines cause fertility problems. It is recommended to get a COVID-19 vaccine if you are trying to get pregnant or might become pregnant in the future.
