3. What do we know about their safety?
Both vaccines can induce
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer], especially after the second shot, including headaches, muscle and joint pain, and fever. For example, in the Moderna trial, after the second dose of the shot,
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] under 65 experienced fatigue and muscle pain; about half had chills, and 1 in 6 people got a fever. With both vaccines, these side effects are less common in older adults. After the vaccines were authorized for use, officials started noticing rare cases of
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer]. One theory is that these are caused by the
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] that coat the vaccines, helping carry them into the body. These events are rare, ranging from
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] shots given, according to data through Jan. 18 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They generally can be treated with adrenaline, also known as
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer]; a small minority of cases required intubation. A study of data through Feb. 18 from
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] suggested a higher rate of severe allergic reactions, about
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer], but still concluded that the overall risk “remains extremely low.” Meanwhile, a separate study from Mass General showed that some people get
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] after getting Moderna’s vaccine. While sometimes dramatic, these rashes are not dangerous, the researchers said.
4. Who’s spreading disinformation about the vaccines?
Traditional anti-vaccine activists have increasingly
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] with figures on the
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer], a primarily online political movement based in the U.S. whose members espouse extremist beliefs typically centered on ideas of white nationalism. High-profile conservatives including
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] personality Tucker Carlson have
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] about Covid vaccines generally. According to the U.S. State Department, several online platforms
[Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] Russian Intelligence have spread disinformation about mRNA vaccines; Moderna and Pfizer are U.S.-based companies
. A Kaiser Family Foundation [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] that vaccine refusers are disproportionately reliant on Facebook for their information, whereas people who want the vaccine are more likely to read newspapers or watch network TV news.
5. What are they saying?
- That steps were skipped in developing and authorizing the vaccines: It’s true that the vaccines reached the market in record time, but that’s not because any testing steps were skipped. Companies sped up the process by performing some testing steps in parallel, and, in the case of Moderna’s vaccine, the U.S. government took financial risks by paying to gear up manufacturing before results were in.
- The vaccines have never been approved by the [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer]: That’s true in the sense that the agency has given only emergency-use authorization so far. This is a [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] created to speed access to medical countermeasures in the event of a public health emergency such as the Covid pandemic. The [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] in advance that to win authorization, Covid vaccines had to prove to be at least 50% effective in preventing illness in large-scale trials and had to demonstrate safety with two months’ of follow-up data on trial participants. Also, the vaccines were vetted by a panel of independent advisers. Both Moderna and Pfizer have said they plan to apply for regular approval for the vaccines this year.
- Critics have taken to labeling mRNA vaccines a form of gene therapy, insinuating that the shots might somehow alter your DNA: They don’t. While the messenger RNA they employ is a type of genetic material, the vaccines differ from what is typically thought of as [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] in that they do not change the DNA inside cells. “They do not affect or interact with our DNA in any way,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer]. In fact, mRNA molecules in the vaccines, which are short-lived, don’t enter the nucleus of cells, where DNA is stored, the CDC notes.
- That the lipid nanoparticles in the vaccines may contain antifreeze: That’s not true. Antifreeze contains ethylene glycol, [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer]. The lipid nanoparticles instead include [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer], an inert compound found in everyday products like toothpaste and shampoo and in many drugs including laxatives.
- That the vaccines can cause antibody-dependent enhancement, or a worse case of disease in those who become sick despite inoculation: This was a theoretical concern when testing of Covid vaccines began. There were hints of this problem in animal studies of some vaccines for [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] (SARS), which is caused by a coronavirus related to SARS-CoV-2. However, no indication of this emerged in human trials of mRNA vaccines for Covid, according to Stanley Perlman, a coronavirus researcher at the [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer], who served on the FDA advisory panel that reviewed the vaccines.
- That we don’t know the long-term effects of the vaccines: That’s always the case with new vaccines. But vaccine side effects usually show up within the [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer]of months after vaccination, which is why the FDA insisted on two months of safety data before authorizing them. Adverse event reports since then have not detected patterns of death that would indicate a problem with the vaccines, the CDC says.
- That there are more adverse event reports for Covid vaccines than there have been for influenza vaccines: That’s not an appropriate or meaningful comparison, says Aaron Kesselheim, a professor of medicine at [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer]. The number of these reports tends to surge when a treatment or vaccine is in the news, and nothing has been more in the headlines than Covid vaccines. In the U.S., these reports can be [Links nur für registrierte Nutzer] and don’t constitute confirmation that a vaccine caused an adverse event. Given the large numbers being inoculated, some unlucky people will get sick and even die shortly after getting shots, regardless of the vaccine.