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9 Common vaccine myths, defused
Reading, PA – April 1: A detail photo of glass vials with the Modern COVID-19 vaccine. At the Olivet Boys and Girls Club Pendora site in Reading, Pennsylvania, where the club operated a COVID-19 vaccine clinic in collaboration with The Forge and pharmacist Eric Esterbrook of the West Reading Drug Store, who donated doses of gave the Moderna vaccine. 2021. (Photo by Ben Hasty / MediaNews Group / Reading Eagle via Getty Images) If you’ve spent as much time in the dark, precocious trenches of social media as I do, you may be aware that (sniff!) Not everything. you will read there is completely accurate. And in the era of COVID-19, many of the false allegations spread through social media have to do with sent viruses, in sent email chains, and even (in an old-fashioned, Laura Ingalls twist). There are myths about how it is contracted, about its symptoms and of course about the COVID-19 vaccines. The misinformation is not surprising, says Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS, an epidemiologist of infectious diseases and the chief communications officer at The COVID Tracking Project. “Vaccine rooting … has been a persistent problem for years,” she notes. She points to the study withdrawn since 1998 that falsely linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism as a major source of modern anti-vaccine sentiments, although it existed even in colonial times in response to smallpox. vaccine. “Many of these myths have been used for decades,” said Glen Nowak, PhD, a director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Health and Risk Communication, who previously worked in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national immunization program. ‘They tend to come from websites and people who are actively working to prevent hesitation and hesitation about vaccinating seeds. Social media increases the visibility and sharing of these demands. “Although the misinformation comes from many different sources, it appears that some websites and people who have spread falsehoods are at least misleading,” reports The New York Times. We have dr. Nowak, Malaty Rivera and other experts asked to identify and dispel the most common misconceptions they encounter. But if you hear a surprising or suspicious statement that did not make this list, suggest dr. Make sure you ask your doctor if this is true before you believe it. Myth: The COVID-19 vaccines are not safe because they have been developed and tested too quickly. Fact: Although Operation Warp Speed cut many of the bureaucratic red tape that often contains suggestions for a new vaccine, the process of testing the vaccines through clinical trials was no less rigorous. For example, vaccinators are authorized to perform pre-clinical tests (testing the vaccine in animals) and to perform clinical trials (testing the vaccine in humans) simultaneously, rather than one after the other, to save time, Malaty Rivera notes. But each trial lasted as long and looked at as many topics as it normally would. “Every milestone and goal that had to be achieved was,” Malaty Rivera emphasizes. The Food and Drug Administration also required manufacturers to monitor the participants in the trial and collect safety data eight weeks after vaccination before applying for emergency approval, to ensure there are no adverse effects, an extremely cautious step , as most adverse effects occur within minutes or days of the jab, Malaty Rivera adds. In addition, researchers have been studying mRNA, the basis of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, for more than a decade. “Honestly, Operation Warped Speed was a terrible naming initiative,” admits Malaty Rivera, reflecting sentiment by Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. ‘But I’m thankful it happened; it provided a steady stream of financial resources to keep the research going. ‘ Myth: the COVID-19 vaccines can give you COVID-19. Fact: The vaccines that have been approved for emergency use in the US do not contain the virus that causes COVID-19, and therefore cannot give it to you. You may experience some side effects, including injection site pain, headaches, chills, fatigue, and muscle aches, but these are symptoms of your body’s response to the vaccine, not the virus. Myth: The negative side effects of the vaccines can be fatal. Fact: This is a relatively widespread lie, but there is no evidence that COVID vaccines cause death, the CDC says. However, it has been proven that they prevent death and protect those around you. One twist in this myth is the claim that COVID-19’s mortality rate is ‘only’ 1%, and therefore not as dangerous. But a death rate of 1% is ten times more deadly than the seasonal flu, ‘the Mayo Clinic shows. “In addition, the mortality rate can vary greatly and is affected by age, gender and underlying health condition.” The bottom line: the vaccines save lives. Myth: The COVID-19 vaccines can alter DNA. Fact: this is just not true. The misconception may stem from the fact that both the Modera and Pfizer vaccines contain messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), genetic material that our cells use to “read” proteins. The mRNA in the vaccine helps the body to recognize and fight back a key piece of the virus that causes COVID-19; it has no interaction with or has anything to do with the cells’ DNA. The mRNA present in the vaccine will be broken down over time and flushed out of your body. ‘[Anti-vaccine political groups] says mRNA vaccines cause ‘genetically modified humans’ using the GMO metaphor, ”explains Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development. “That is clearly not the case.” Myth: The COVID-19 vaccines can cause infertility or miscarriages. Fact: No evidence has linked the vaccines to infertility and miscarriages, but the dreaded misinformation campaigns call the COVID vaccine ‘female sterilization’. “There is no science to this claim,” said Malaty Rivera. ‘It’s a myth that is so damaging. It is formulated to stimulate fear and is extracted directly from the anti-wax book from the HPV vaccine. This is an unoriginal and unscientific assertion. ‘More than 69,000 pregnant people have been vaccinated to date, and early data found by the CDC indicates that vaccines are likely to be safe and effective during pregnancy. Pregnant people are now eligible to receive the vaccines in more than 40 states, and a new study from the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has shown that the vaccines provide strong immunity for pregnant people. Although it is up to each individual to determine their own risk and comfort levels, Malaty Rivera says that the benefits of the vaccine seem to outweigh the risk of getting COVID-19 for pregnant people – who are at greater risk for serious diseases if they are the virus. Myth: The COVID-19 vaccines were developed using fetal tissue. Fact: None of the vaccines contain aborted fetal cells or tissue, and no fetal tissue was used during the development or production of the vaccines. The confusion is due to the use of so-called fetal cell lines, which are laboratory-replicated fetal cells. It is derived from cells taken from elective abortions that took place decades ago, which multiplied with new cells over the decades. Fetal cell lines provide a way to test treatments on human cells, and are often used medically. It is used, for example, to test treatments for conditions such as Parkinson’s. Pfizer and Moderna used fetal cell lines in their vaccination tests, and Johnson & Johnson used them in development and production. But the vaccines themselves do not contain any fetal cells. Even the Vatican said it was okay for Catholics to get all three vaccinations. The Church hinted that Catholics should, if possible, try to get a vaccine other than the J&J, but ultimately said that Catholics have a moral duty to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus by being vaccinated. “If anyone wants to morally object to an abortion that took place 50 years ago, it’s one thing,” says Malaty Rivera. “But preventing life-saving therapies and treatments for people due to one event seems morally more reprehensible to me.” Myth: you do not need a vaccine if you have already had and repaired COVID-19. Fact: you need to get one of the vaccines, regardless of whether you have already contracted the virus. Although COVID appears to provide some immunity to the virus, we still do not know how long the immunity will last, how powerful it is, and how much it will protect you from other COVID-19 variants, Saskia V. Popescu, PhD, an epidemiologist of infectious diseases and assistant professor at George Mason University, told Refinery29 earlier. The CDC gives two exceptions: if you are currently COVID positive, you must wait to receive a vaccine until you have quarantined and recovered; and if you have been treated for the virus with monoclonal antibodies or recovery plasma, you should wait 90 days after treatment to recover. Myth: The COVID-19 vaccines are injected with a barcode or microchip to keep an eye on people. Fact: While this would be a great sci-fi movie, it is not true. This bizarre claim originated in a widespread Facebook video containing manipulated footage of Bill and Melinda Gates and Jack Ma, and a company called ApiJect, which received a $ 590 million loan in November to inject to produce the vaccines. ApiJect does offer an optional “Radio Frequency Identification chip” technology. These chips are meant to appear on a syringe’s label and confirm that a vaccine is authentic, expired and unused, Steve Hofman, an ApiJect spokesman, confirmed to Refinery29. They will never be injected into a human. Plus, as of this writing, no COVID vaccines used in the US have actually decided to use the chip technology. Myth: The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is not as effective as the other two vaccines. Fact: Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine has been shown to be 66% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 worldwide and 72% effective in preventing moderate to severe COVID-19 in the US. This efficiency rate was technically lower than that of Moderna and Pfizer (both are above 90%). But J & J’s vaccine has been shown to be 100% effective against hospitalizations and deaths 28 days after vaccination, and is the most important figure. “People see the numbers in the headlines, but they miss the nuance,” said Bruce Gellin, MD, MPH, president of Global Immunization at Sabin Vaccine Institute. The three vaccines currently used in the US cannot be directly compared, as the trials were conducted at different times, in different parts of the world and with different COVID-19 variants in play. (For more background information, check out Vox’s extensive layout.) All we need to know is that they are all considered protective enough to be approved by the FDA, and that it’s all good to keep us alive. With that perspective, you can not go wrong – except by not being vaccinated at all. Check out this post on Instagram A post shared by Vox (@voxdotcom) This story has been updated with a comment from ApiJect. As you can see? How about another R29 goodness, here? Vaccines can not transport or distribute COVID There are vaccination passports Why do I feel guilty about the vaccination?