Fact check: The truth about COVID vaccines

Dr. Jurate Ivanaviciene knows there is a lot of misinformation circulating about the two COVID-19 vaccines being distributed in the U.S. Some of these myths are expected — like “can the vaccine make you sick?” — while others are a bit stranger, she said.

“There’s the one about the vaccine being used to implant microchips to track people,” said Ivanaviciene, chief of the infectious disease division at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport. “That’s kind of funny.”

But there is a concern from medical professionals such as Ivanaviciene that these myths could keep people from getting the vaccine, slowing efforts to gain control of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are some oft-repeated myths about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and Ivanaviciene’s thoughts on why they aren’t true:

Myth: The COVID-19 vaccine causes disease.

Fact: Ivanaviciene said this isn’t true, as none of the vaccines — including those still in development — contain live virus. She said there are some possible side effects, the most common being a soreness at the injection point.

“After receiving the vaccine, some people can develop a reaction, and those reactions are telling you that your body is building up an immunity to the disease,” she said.

Other side effects can include headaches, fever, and some gastrointestinal symptoms. “Some people can feel a little swelling of the lymph nodes (in the arm where the shot was administered),” Ivanaviciene said. “That’s why we recommend getting the vaccine in your nondominant arm.”

Ivanaviciene said serious side effects of these injections are “really rare,” and can occur with any vaccine.

Ivanaviciene said it’s common for people to believe a vaccine will give them the illness, but it’s not true.

“People tell me, ‘I don’t want to get the flu vaccine because I will get the flu.’ That’s not true,” she said.

Myth: If you get the vaccine, you can stop wearing a mask.

Fact: People will still need to wear masks for the foreseeable future, Ivanaviciene said. Even though the vaccine has been shown to prevent serious illness from COVID-19, it’s not yet known whether it will prevent transmission of the illness, according to a fact sheet from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration about the Pfizer vaccine.

“Most vaccines that protect from viral illnesses also reduce transmission of the virus that causes the disease by those who are vaccinated,” the sheet read. “While it is hoped this will be the case, the scientific community does not yet know if the PfizerBioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will reduce such transmission.”

Ivanaviciene likened the COVID vaccine situation to the fact that the influenza vaccine does not fully prevent everyone from getting the flu, but can protect people from getting seriously ill or dying.

“You can still get the infection, but the infection shouldn’t be severe,” she said.

Because people can still get infected, they can still transmit the illness to others, making preventive measures, such as masks, important.

“You do still have to protect yourself,” Ivanaviciene said.

Myth: Vaccines do not work against new variants of COVID-19.

Fact: Ivanaviciene said people are concerned the vaccine won’t protect against the new, more contagious

COVID-19 variant that has been circulating in the United States and abroad. However, she said the vaccines are designed in such a way that “even if the virus changes via

mutations, the vaccine will still be effective. It might not be 95 percent effective, but it will still be effective.”

Myth: The vaccine can cause infertility in women and sterility in men.

Fact: “We don’t have any data to support that,” Ivanaviciene

said.

Myth: The vaccine is actually a tracking device being implanted in people.

Fact: Finally, let’s put this to rest: “This is not true at all,” Ivanaviciene said. “The vaccine does not contain a microchip.”