DNA Exclusive: Vaccination and the myths around COVID-19 vaccine, here's the truth

New Delhi: Even as the country is fighting the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, two major obstacles have emerged - shortage of vaccines and ‘shortage’ of trust in vaccines. In many states, people are afraid to get the vaccine even though the vaccine is available.

Zee News Anchor Sachin Arora on Wednesday (June 2) busted various myths around COVID vaccines that have created a fear in people’s minds, making them hesitant in getting the jab.

At present, COVID vaccine is being administered to all people above 18 years of age in the country. There are primarily two vaccines available - Covishield and Covaxin. But many people are hesitating in getting vaccinated as they fear it will do them harm.

There are five major myths and the truth about the COVID vaccines:

1.  Getting vaccine could result in death – The truth is that vaccine does not cause death. It is meant to save lives. According to the Union Health Ministry, all such claims are false.

2. Vaccine will cause COVID infection - Getting the vaccine does not cause COVID infection. The vaccine makes neutralizing antibodies in the body which prevents infection. Even if someone catches the infection after getting vaccinated, the antibodies will fight it and help the patient recover.

3. The vaccine will be replaced with another drug – There are over 73,000 vaccination centres in the country. The administration is responsible for administering the vaccine at these vaccination centers and the health department and other units are also taking care of it. There cannot be any other medicine in the vaccine vial.

4. Vaccine would cause side-effects – So far side-effects of vaccines have been observed in very few people. But the thing is that in allopathy, every medicine has side-effects. Even a drug to treat fever has side-effects. However, the side-effects of the vaccine do not cause serious complications.

5. Getting vaccinated would harm future breed – This is completely baseless and not supported by any fact. It is just a rumour that is circulating which should not be paid attention to.

In India, every person gets over 15 vaccines by the age of 16. COVID-19 vaccine is not the first one being administered. There is nothing to fear about.

The rumours around vaccines are not just limited to India. According to a study done on different social media platforms on the Internet, most rumors about the vaccine are not in India but in America.

According to this study, 15 percent of such rumours were found circulating in the US. India stands at the second position in this regard with 13 percent, while Brazil is in third place with 12 percent. This study was published by science journal PLOS One in May.

There is a long history of mistrust in vaccines. But the fact is that vaccines have always saved lives. Therefore, people must shed their hesitancy and get vaccinated as soon as possible.