Myths & Facts About COVID-19 Vaccines

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer and more dependable way to build immunity to COVID-19 than getting sick with COVID-19.

FACT COVID-19 vaccination causes a more predictable immune response than an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

COVID-19 can cause severe illness or death. You can also continue to have long-term health issues after COVID-19 infection. Getting sick with COVID-19 offers protection from future illness. This protection is sometimes called “natural immunity”. The level of protection people get from a COVID-19 infection may vary depending on how mild or severe their illness was, the time since their infection, and their age.

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine can provide added protection for people who already had COVID-19.

Learn about why you should get vaccinated even if you already had COVID-19.

The ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are safe.

FACT Nearly all the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are also ingredients in many foods – fats, sugars, and salts.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines contain ingredients like preservatives, tissues (such as aborted fetal cells), antibiotics, food proteins, medicines, latex, or metals. Exact vaccine ingredients vary by manufacturer.

Learn more about what ingredients are and are not in Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Novavax COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 vaccines do not cause new variants.

FACT New variants of the COVID-19 virus happen because the virus that causes COVID-19 constantly changes through a natural ongoing process of mutation (change).

COVID-19 vaccines do not create or cause variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. As the COVID-19 virus spreads, it has more opportunities to change.

Learn more about variants.

COVID-19 vaccines do not contain microchips and they cannot make you magnetic.

FACT Vaccines are developed to fight against disease.

Vaccines work by stimulating your immune system to produce antibodies. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get the disease first.

COVID-19 vaccines are not administered to track your movement. They are free from manufactured products such as microelectronics, electrodes, carbon nanotubes, and nanowire semiconductors.

COVID-19 vaccines are free from metals such as iron, nickel, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth alloys. They do not contain ingredients that can produce an electromagnetic field at the site of your injection.

Learn more about the ingredients in the COVID-19 vaccinations authorized for use in the United States.

• Pfizer BioNtec
• Moderna
• Novavax

COVID-19 vaccines will not affect fertility.

FACT Currently no evidence shows that any vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems (problems trying to get pregnant) in women or men.

COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for people who are pregnant, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future, as well as their partners.

Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and people who would like to have a baby.

COVID-19 vaccines do not alter DNA.

FACT COVID-19 vaccines do not change or interact with your DNA in any way.

Both messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein subunit COVID-19 vaccines work by delivering instructions (genetic material) to your cells to start building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19.

After the body produces an immune response, it gets rid of all the vaccine ingredients just as it would get rid of any information that cells no longer need. This process is a part of normal body functioning.

The genetic material delivered by mRNA vaccines never enters the nucleus of your cells, which is where your DNA is kept, so the vaccine does not alter your DNA.

Learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work.

Not all events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) are caused by vaccination.

FACT Anyone can report events to VAERS, even if it is not clear whether a vaccine caused the problem. Because of this, VAERS data alone cannot determine if the reported adverse event was caused by a COVID-19 vaccination.

Some VAERS reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable. Vaccine safety experts study these adverse events and look for unusually high numbers of health problems, or a pattern of problems, after people receive a particular vaccine.

The number of deaths reported to VAERS following COVID-19 vaccination has been misinterpreted and misreported as if this number means deaths that were proven to be caused by vaccination. Reports of adverse events to VAERS following vaccination, including deaths, do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem.

Learn more about VAERS.

COVID-19 vaccines recommended for use in the United States do not shed or release their components.

FACTVaccine shedding is the release or discharge of any of the vaccine components in or outside of the body and can only occur when a vaccine contains a live weakened version of the virus.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines recommended for use in the U.S. contain a live virus. mRNA and protein subunit vaccines are the two types of currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S.

Learn more about mRNA and protein subunit COVID-19 vaccines.

Finding credible vaccine information

Accurate vaccine information can help stop common myths and rumors. Yet, it can be difficult to know which sources of information you can trust.

Before considering vaccine information on the Internet, check that the information comes from a credible source and is updated on a regular basis. While the Internet is a useful tool for researching health-related issues, it should not replace a discussion with a healthcare professional.