While a lot of countries are ramping up COVID-19 vaccination rates to achieve herd immunity as fast as possible, there is a notable percentage of each country’s population that is against vaccinations or even vaccines in general. This is often due to misinformed opinions about the COVID-19 vaccines, which are in turn, caused by myths about the vaccines. Here, we take a look at the biggest myths and misconceptions about the COVID-19 Vaccines and what the medical community has to say about them.
1. Development of the COVID-19 vaccine is rushed so it’s neither safe nor effective.
According to hopkinsmedicine.org, “studies found that the two initial vaccines are both about 95% effective — and reported no serious or life-threatening side effects.” It also wasn’t as if they had to start from scratch because they also had a foundation to develop the vaccines prior to the pandemic. “The mRNA technology behind the new coronavirus vaccines has been in development for almost two decades. Vaccine makers created the technology to help them respond quickly to a new pandemic illness, such as COVID-19.” All brands of the COVID-19 vaccines were developed quickly while maintaining the highest safety standard possible by complying with the FDA’s rigorous standards.
2. I’m at a huge risk for blood clots from taking the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Any kind of vaccine or medicine technically carries risks and side effects and while it’s true that the AstraZeneca vaccine has been associated with blood clots, the fear over this possible side effect has been exaggerated. In actuality, the risk for developing blood clots as a side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine is only a measly 0.0004% or 4 in a million cases. In contrast, blood clot risks are higher for the following: taking birth control pills (0.05%-0.12%), smoking (0.18%), and worst of all, a COVID-19 infection with a whopping 16.5% with 165,000 cases of blood clots in 1,000,000 cases. So developing blood clots from this particular vaccine is so rare that you’re actually much more likely to develop blood clots from a COVID infection. These figures are all taken from the NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group.
3. I don’t need the vaccine if I’ve already had COVID-19.
Some people think that natural immunity comes after you’ve recovered from a COVID-19 infection so it makes getting a COVID-19 vaccine redundant. Well, the fact is that people who’ve contracted COVID-19 would still benefit from being inoculated. Re-infection is definitely a possibility and there’s not enough evidence to ascertain if or for how long people are protected after getting COVID-19. Early research has implied that natural immunity from COVID-19 doesn’t last long, but further studies are required to understand this better. Of course, vaccine trial subjects who were once infected got vaccinated without any ill effects. Overall, some scientists believe that the vaccine offers better protection than natural immunity.
4. I can get a COVID-19 infection from the vaccine.
All studies show that you cannot and will not get COVID-19 from the vaccine as it doesn’t contain the live virus.
5. Once I receive the vaccine, I no longer need to wear a mask.
According to muhealth.org, public health protocols like handwashing, wearing a mask, and social distancing are still necessary until enough people have immunity. Fully vaccinated people can meet with other fully vaccinated people without masks.
6. The COVID-19 vaccine contains a microchip that would track me.
This baseless and outlandish conspiracy theory probably originated from a misconstrued idea for smart syringe packaging by syringe maker Apiject. Manipulated videos containing out-of-context fragments from different news reports and interviews then fueled the fire for this conspiracy theory. In the original interview with Jay Walker, executive chairman for Apiject, it was stated that “The chip was designed to distinguish the real vaccine from counterfeit or expired doses, and to track when injections are used.” It’s also clear that the RFID chip would be attached on the outside of the syringe, and not included with the contents of the vaccine itself. What’s more, Apiject spokesman Steve Hofman has said that the special label has not even been requested by any vaccine manufacturers so far.
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