Dr. Jurate Ivanaviciene knows that there is a lot of misinformation spreading about the two COVID-19 vaccines being distributed in the US. Some of these myths are anticipated – such as “can the vaccine make you sick?” – while others are a little stranger, she said.
“There’s the one about the vaccine used to implant microchips to detect humans,” said Ivanaviciene, head of the Infectious Diseases Division in St. Louis. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, said. “It’s quite funny.”
But there are concerns from medical professionals like Ivanaviciene that these myths could deter people from getting the vaccine, which is delaying efforts to gain control of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are some myths that are often repeated about Pfizer and Modern vaccines and Ivanavicine’s thoughts on why they are not true:
Myth: The COVID-19 vaccine causes disease.
Fact: Ivanaviciene said this is not true as none of the vaccines contain live viruses, including those still in development. She said there are some possible side effects, most of which are a sore at the injection site.
“After people receive the vaccine, they can develop reactions, and those reactions tell you that your body is building up an immunity to the disease,” she said.
Other side effects may include headache, fever and some gastrointestinal symptoms. “Some people may feel a little swelling of the lymph nodes (in the arm where the shot was administered),” Ivanaviciene said. “Therefore, we recommend getting the vaccine in your non-dominant arm.”
Ivanaviciene said that serious side effects from these injections are “very rare” and that they can occur with any vaccine.
Ivanaviciene said it is common for people to believe that a vaccine will give them the disease, but this is not true.
“People say to me, ‘I do not want to get the flu vaccine, because I’ll get the flu. “It’s not true,” she said.
Myth: If you get the vaccine, you can stop wearing a mask.
Fact: People will still have to wear masks for the foreseeable future, Ivanaviciene said. Although the vaccine has been shown to prevent serious diseases of COVID-19, it is not yet known whether it will prevent the transmission of the disease, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration information sheet on the Pfizer vaccine.
“Most vaccines that protect against viral diseases also reduce the transmission of the virus that causes the disease by those who are vaccinated,” the page reads. “Although it is hoped, the scientific community will not yet know whether the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will reduce such transmission.”
Ivanaviciene compared the COVID vaccination situation to the fact that the flu vaccine does not prevent everyone from getting the flu, but that it can protect people from becoming seriously ill or dying.
“You can still get the infection, but the infection should not be serious,” she said.
Because people can still become infected, they can still transmit the disease to others, which makes preventative measures, such as masks, important.
“You still have to protect yourself,” Ivanaviciene said.
Myth: Vaccinations do not work against new variants of COVID-19.
Fact: Ivanaviciene said people were worried that the vaccine would not protect against the new, more contagious COVID-19 variant being spread in the United States and abroad. However, she said the vaccines were designed so that “even if the virus changes via mutations, the vaccine will still be effective. It may not be 95 percent effective, but it will still be effective.”
Myth: The vaccine can cause infertility in women and sterility in men.
Fact: “We have no data to support this,” Ivanaviciene said.
Myth: The vaccine is actually a detection device that is implanted in humans.
Fact: Let’s finally rest it, ‘It’s not true at all,’ Ivanaviciene said. “The vaccine does not contain a microchip.”