
MYTHS & FACTS
- MYTH: Breakthrough cases prove that even if I get vaccinated, I might still get COVID-19. So why bother?
- MYTH: Children do not need to be vaccinated because they do not become seriously ill from COVID-19.
- MYTH: I already had COVID-19, so I have natural immunity now. I don’t need the vaccine.
- MYTH: I’m not at risk for severe complications of COVID-19, so I don’t need the vaccine.
- MYTH: Getting the COVID-19 vaccine means I can stop wearing my mask and taking COVID precautions.
- MYTH: The side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous.
- MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccines can affect a woman’s fertility.
- MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccines were developed with or contain controversial substances.
- MYTH: The technology used to create the COVID-19 vaccines is too new to be safe.
- MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccines were not rigorously tested, which is why they have only Emergency Use Authorization and not full FDA approval.
- MYTH: The COVID-19 vaccines enter your cells and change your DNA.
- MYTH: COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips.
- MYTH: People with certain blood types have less severe COVID-19 infections, so getting a vaccine isn’t necessary.
- MYTH: COVID-19 vaccines cause more variants.
- MYTH: Now that we have a vaccine for COVID-19, we can make vaccines for the common cold, HIV, and other diseases.
Myth
The technology used to create the COVID-19 vaccines is too new to be safe.
Fact
The technology used, called messenger RNA (mRNA) is not new. Research on it began in the early 1990s, and two diseases that are very close to COVID — SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) in 2012 — helped bring the mRNA vaccine development to present day use.
The reason this virus is technically called SARS-COV-2 is that there was a SARS-1, the original one, and scientists had already begun work on developing a vaccine for that virus. So, when this pandemic arrived, they had already developed a lot of the science. A decade of work had been in progress.
Boston University: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/
myths-vs-facts-covid-19-vaccine/

