COVID-19 vaccine rumors debunked

Landon Bowling - Sophomore | News

Vaccines for the COVID-19 virus have recently been approved and given to select members of communities all throughout the world. New vaccines could finally spell the beginning of the end for the pandemic we have all been living through this past year. However, like most new things, rumors have begun to spread about the vaccines and how they can negatively affect people. Many of these rumors, however, are not true.

One major falsehood that has spread about the vaccines is that they can give you COVID-19. The vaccines actually don’t contain any live virus, so they can’t infect you. A vaccine works by causing your body to make antibodies without actually using a live virus.

Another common misconception about vaccines is that if you’ve already had the virus, you don’t need to be vaccinated. This is not true. Although people can be naturally immune after having the virus, the length of this natural immunity can vary from person to person. The vaccine is a much more reliable way of insuring that someone is immune to the virus.

Possibly one of the strangest rumors surrounding the vaccine is that it will alter a person’s DNA. This is just blatantly incorrect. This rumor seems to come from the fact that the COVID-19 vaccine is an mRNA vaccine. All this really means is that the vaccine doesn’t use a live virus, and instead teaches our cells to combat COVID-19. An mRNA vaccine doesn’t interact with the nucleus of the cell, and thus cannot affect a person’s DNA.

Finally, one idea many people seem to share about the vaccine is that once someone has received it, they no longer need to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines. This is sadly not the case. No vaccine works 100% of the time, and someone who has been vaccinated has no idea how many of their peers haven’t been vaccinated and are still at risk. It is recommended that even after being vaccinated, one should still wear a mask and limit their exposure to others until more research can be done.

COVID-19 has been a pain for everyone for nearly a full year, but with the distribution of new vaccines, we could be making big steps to finally eradicating it. As long as everyone continues to follow the CDC’s guidelines and gets vaccinated when and if possible, we could finally rid the world of this virus.