As the government races to get as many people vaccinated as possible, misinformation is spreading almost as quickly as the virus. Nothing calms fears better than proven facts, so Spectrum News took some important questions to someone who has the real answers.
Dr. Nicole Iovine is the chief epidemiology officer for the University of Florida Shands Hospital, and she took the time to help clear up some major misconceptions.
Do the vaccines contain the virus itself?
Iovine said the vaccines do not contain weakened or dead strains of the virus. THat's making it different from some other vaccines, like the flu shot.
"This vaccine just contains the instructions for a protein of the virus that we know our immune system really reacts strongly to and makes a really strong antibody response to," Iovine explained.
Those instructions are what's known as "messenger RNA."
Will messenger RNA impact the DNA of people who receive the vaccine?
No, but Iovine said she's aware of the concern that the messenger RNA will become part of recipients' DNA and be passed on through the generations. "I can understand why people would be concerned about that because they hear 'RNA.' 'Well, that's like DNA, but it's really very, very different," Iovine said. "This messenger RNA is the instruction protein...it doesn't interact with your DNA at all."
Iovine said the messenger RNA also won't stay in people's bodies forever. She said it's something the human body makes all the time, and once it doesn't need it, it gets rid of it.
Will the vaccines make people susceptible to other illnesses?
"It absolutely, absolutely will not make you susceptible to other viral infections," Iovine said. "It's important to remember that our bodies are constantly encountering potential infectious organisms all around us in what we breathe, what we eat. We're constantly being exposed to things. Our immune systems are very good at fighting off all of those potential infections. So, getting a vaccine is really just one more thing that the immune system says, 'Oh -- that's not supposed to be here. Let me take care of that.' So, it absolutely doesn't decrease your body's ability to fight off other infections."
These vaccines were developed in months instead of years. Were corners cut that could present safety issues?
"Every single step that is normally followed to bring a vaccine to the public has been followed. All of the studies have been done, the monitoring, the safety evaluations, the effectiveness – all of those things have been done. The reason it was done so quickly is because of the unprecedented amount of resources that have been brought to bear to make all of this possible. It's never before happened that there's been so much money and and so much focus on this single task of making a vaccine, and that's why it was available so quickly," Iovine said. "It's not that steps were skipped. It's simply that enough effort and resources were put towards a singular goal, and those are the benefits that we're reaping now."
Will mass vaccinations mean an end to the pandemic?
No. According to Iovine, there are a few reasons for this. First of all, the vaccines aren't 100% effective, and some people will still catch the virus. It's also still unclear whether vaccine recipients will be able to transmit the virus to others. The vaccine is also only authorized for people ages 16 and older, so younger children can't be vaccinated.