UW-Madison expert debunks COVID-19 vaccine myths
MILWAUKEE - Some people are hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, mainly because they don't know what's fact and what's fiction.
FOX6 News sat down with an expert Thursday, Feb. 4 to debunk three of the most common vaccine myths.
Professor Ajay Sethi with the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health wants to clear up some misconceptions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
"It's perfectly fine for people to be concerned when they’re receiving any kind of medical intervention or any kind of vaccine," Sethi said.
Professor Ajay Sethi
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The vaccine has not been out long enough for doctors to know if it is effective at stopping disease transmission.
That is why mask wearing, social distancing and hand washing are still advised.
Myth 1: You are unable to contract COVID-19 after receiving the vaccine.
Sethi said the point of the vaccine is to suppress any serious symptoms if you contract COVID-19 -- not to make you immune to infection.
"In the clinical trials that tested these vaccines, they were 95% effective for protecting against any symptoms at all, even the mild ones. But they were 100% effective in preventing hospitalization, so it actually does a really excellent job, better than most of the vaccines we have right now."
Myth 2: There are microchips inside the vaccine that can track you.
Sethi said the microchip myth is just a page right out of a science fiction book.
"Maybe when people hear these RNA molecules in the vaccine are inserted into little fat droplets, and the technical term for those fat droplets are lipid nanoparticles. Maybe the word nano, nanochips, nanotechnology, people kind of maybe think that it's connected with microchips. It’s really far out there. It’s not really correct at all."
Myth 3: The vaccine can give you long-term side effects.
While side effects are a possibility, Sethi said the chance of those effects being long-term is unlikely not just for the COVID-19 vaccine, buy any vaccine.
"For all vaccines in general, you don’t really have long-term effects from vaccines. Any kind of adverse event or side effect from the vaccine will be experienced pretty immediately."
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COVID-19 vaccine resources & more
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Wisconsin Department of Health Services info on COVID-19 vaccine
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