From microchips to DNA changes, the myth of coronavirus vaccines has been revealed

• The coronavirus conspiracy theory can prevent people from being vaccinated if left untreated.
• It is impossible for a vaccine to alter your DNA, make you infertile, or give you COVID-19.
• The vaccine is not forced by those who do not want it and does not include a location tracking microchip.
• Finally, you will not be protected from COVID-19 the moment you take a shot. It takes time and extensive compliance for life to return to normal.
• For more articles, visit the Business Insider home page..

Now that the United States has approved and launched the distribution of two vaccines, the real challenge is to ensure that people are vaccinated and to break down the misconceptions and conspiracy theories surrounding vaccines.

At least about 75% to 85% of Americans need to be vaccinated for life to return to Dr. Anthony Fauci, an expert on normal infectious diseases prior to COVID-19. Said.. False information poses a major barrier to reaching that milestone, as people may not want to take shots that they do not trust or understand.

“It’s not just a matter of people’s interpretation,” said Bernice Hausman, author of “Anti / Vax: Reframing the Vaccination Controversy.” I told the insider before.. “It’s a matter of repairing the lack of trust in governments, pharmaceutical companies, and public health.”

Due to this lack of trust, people are wary of what the vaccine contains, what it can do for your body, and whether it is really needed. But so far, key players remain transparent about how vaccines work, what they can do, and what they can’t.

Here we look at eight widely shared but untrue myths and conspiracy theories about vaccines and explain why they are not true.

1. mRNA vaccine cannot change your DNA

December 1st, a political party called Advance New Zealand Post to Facebook The mRNA vaccine will “intervene directly in the patient’s genetic material and thus alter the individual genetic material.”

The group attributed this claim to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a history of disseminating false information about vaccines. Communication company AFP fact checker No evidence was found that he was involved in this case.

mRNA vaccines work by instructing the body to make important proteins of the coronavirus. The coronavirus trains the immune system to attack and fight the virus itself. They do not work by entering the body’s genetic material. This is physically impossible.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologies (ACOG) Vaccination advice for pregnant and lactating people“These vaccines do not invade the nucleus and do not alter the human DNA of the vaccinated person. As a result, mRNA vaccines cannot cause genetic alterations.”

2. Vaccines do not make you infertile

A Posts that were disseminated on social media He falsely claimed that Pfizer’s new coronavirus vaccine could cause infertility in women.

The post promoted the false belief that vaccines stimulate the immune system to attack both coronavirus proteins and proteins involved in placental formation.

But experts say there is no evidence that the vaccine can lead to infertility, and the two proteins do not have enough similar composition to plausify the theory.

Also, pregnant people have been excluded from clinical trials and it is not yet known how the vaccine will affect the population, but experts say it is safe because it is made from mRNA rather than live virus. I predict that. Only vaccines made with live viruses are considered unsafe for use during pregnancy.

The ACOG, along with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, states that pregnant women who want a vaccine should be able to get the vaccine.

3. Vaccine does not contain microchip

One of the wildest vaccine myths says The shot contains an injectable microchip It can track your location — and Bill Gates has something to do with it.

As a co-founder and philanthropist of Microsoft, he has played an important role in the past and present of vaccine campaigns.This conspiracy theory that researchers say May have originated from InfowarsGates says he plans to use coronavirus outbreaks to transplant microchips into billions of people.

Both Pifzer and Moderna have released a fact sheet detailing the ingredients of the coronavirus vaccine. This did not include any mention of location tracking devices. Gates also assured reporters that the June conspiracy theory was false.

“It’s almost hard to deny this,” Gates said in a media call, announcing $ 1.6 billion in funding for vaccinations in poor countries. USA Today..

4. State, school and private employers can be vaccinated, but the federal government cannot get you vaccinated.

It is important that 75-85% of the population be vaccinated to reach herd immunity, but the US government rarely mandates vaccination to reach that milestone.

“You don’t want to tell or force someone to vaccinate. We’ve never done that,” Forch said. August live stream.. It can be mandatory for a specific group of people, such as healthcare professionals, but not for the general public. “

National vaccine obligations may be out of the question, States and cities have the authority to require residents to be vaccinated.. COVID-19 hotspots may require people to vaccinate or pay fines.

Hospitals and universities also have a history of requiring staff and students to be vaccinated, from hepatitis to meningitis. Due to these high-risk settings for COVID-19 infection, private or state-owned agencies may enforce coronavirus vaccine obligations.

Other private employers can mandate — but Highly highly recommended — Coronavirus vaccination in the name of public security, Business Insider previously reported.

5. The vaccine does not give you COVID-19, but it also does not protect you immediately

Vaccines are intended to introduce a harmless amount of virus into the immune system so that the body can recognize intruders in the future. However, the coronavirus vaccines on the market do not contain the virus itself. A small fragment of that genetic material You can’t infect you.

The process of vaccination is Some temporary side effects, Injection site pain, malaise, headache, rarely fever, etc. These reactions indicate that the immune system plays a role and should not be confused with the actual COVID-19 symptoms.

However, it takes several weeks to develop antibodies that protect against the virus from the second vaccination (administered 3-4 weeks later). This means that there is a time frame in which you can become infected with COVID-19 after being vaccinated. Don’t throw away the mask As soon as you get your shot.

6. The vaccine was developed quickly, but the safety corner was not cut

Vaccines have been developed at an unprecedented pace. “Under normal circumstances, it can take 10 years to make a vaccine. This time, multiple vaccines were made within a year,” said Bill Gates. I wrote in his recent blog post..

But that’s not because the scientists were sloppy. “We were able to act very quickly, without sacrificing safety issues, without cutting corners, and certainly without compromising scientific integrity,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci. Live stream hosted by US News & World Report..

Rather, speed was possible for three main reasons. The first is a vaccine platform that can be developed much faster than traditional vaccines because the two currently licensed vaccines are made from mRNA.Moderna scientists Complete mRNA technology over the years, And they enrolled eight mRNA vaccines in clinical trials before the pandemic began.

And second, countries and organizations invested quickly in the stages of the development process, rather than waiting for one step to complete before funding the next.

“In other words, once the vaccine worked, we saved months instead of waiting for it to work and then making the vaccine,” Forch said.

Moreover, scientists have not started their research on coronavirus from scratch.They could build on Previous vaccine efforts against the other two coronaviruses, SARS and MERS, put on hold when these outbreaks subsided.

7. Having a history of COVID-19 does not mean that you need to skip the vaccine.

People who have been infected with COVID-19 will develop protective antibodies accordingly, Its protection is not bulletproof And scientists don’t know how long it will last.

In addition, as Tracy Hassel, a professor of inflammatory diseases at the University of Manchester, Written in conversationIn some inpatients, the body’s immune system was overwhelmed to fight infection and was unable to develop efficient “immune memory.” Conversely, people with very mild infections may activate the immune system and not develop such memory at all.

So it may be Reasonable for some people who have recovered from their illness To stand behind the more vulnerable people in the vaccine line, experts still recommend that they be shot.

8. No, vaccination does not immediately return to normal life

According to experts, vaccine deployment marks the beginning of the end, but that does not mean that life will soon return to its pre-pandemic normal state.

Debragov, an infectious disease pharmacist at The Ohio State University Wexner, said, “People’s perception is that you are vaccinated and safe, and ultimately you can stop all this masking and social distance. I think it’s not a reality, “he said. The medical center told Business Insider.

In reality, it takes time to learn how well a vaccine protects the people around the vaccinated people, and 75-85% of herd immunity that all of us can relax. It can take longer to reach the threshold.

Still, life is not 100% normal until the whole world reaches this level of herd immunity. Forch and Bill Gates agreed last month on a podcast co-sponsored by Microsoft founder Rashida Jones with actress Rashida Jones.

“If you’re sick elsewhere in the world, you’re at risk of reinfection like Australia and South Korea, so I’m not sure if you can go back and have a big sporting event or open a bar I don’t know, “Gates said. .. “As long as it’s in the world, we don’t know if it will return to normal.”