Covid-19 Vaccination – The Facts!

There are currently three vaccines in use in the UK; the Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines (a fourth vaccine, the Janssen, has been approved but is not yet available). There is a lot of information available about these vaccines. Some of it is based on the available evidence and has been provided by qualified scientists and doctors. There is also a lot of information which is not accurate, but can sound more interesting than factual and scientific evidence, and this type of information may be more likely to be spread, especially on social media.

The following is based on the most accurate and scientifically robust information currently available:

The vaccines are effective, including against the new strains of Covid-19

Covid-19 vaccines reduce the risk of suffering serious complications or dying from Covid-19 infection. They also reduce the risk of catching and spreading the virus.

No vaccine is 100% effective at preventing infection but large studies in the UK and worldwide consistently show that the Covid-19 vaccines reduce infection, hospitalisation and death from Covid-19 including the delta variant.

The vaccines are safe

The COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the UK have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. The speed of approval was due to cutting red tape rather than cutting corners.

The development and approval of the vaccines went through all the same careful testing on safety and effectiveness as any other vaccine, but just more quickly. In normal times, it can take a long time to produce a vaccine because of funding and logistics reasons, such as production factories and supply chains. When it was clear that the Covid-19 virus was spreading rapidly and was causing high death rates, global collaboration of scientific effort and funding, and intervention from the government all helped to speed up the production process and allowed vaccines to be developed in months rather than years.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) regulates medicines in the UK. The MHRA has decided that the approved vaccines are safe to use and provide effective protection against severe disease. This is based on analysis of safety data from clinical trials involving tens of thousands of individuals. Further data continues to be collected as people receive the vaccines. They would not have been approved by the MHRA if they had not passed rigid tests. Other medical regulators have also reviewed the evidence and approved the vaccines.

Serious side effects are rare

The vaccines can cause some side effects, but not everyone gets them. Any side effects are usually mild and should not last longer than a week. These include a sore arm from the injection, feeling tired, a headache, feeling achy, and feeling or being sick.

More serious side effects, such as allergic reactions or blood clotting, are very rare. Although the risk is low, guidance has been updated to ensure younger and healthier people have access to vaccines with a better benefit vs. risk profile.

There have been extremely rare reports of inflammation of the heart (myocarditis) after Covid-19 vaccination. Most people who had this recovered following rest and simple treatments.

The vaccines are safe for pregnant women and children

Not including pregnant women and children in the initial trials is normal practice for a newly developed vaccine (or any medicine) until safety is established. Data from the UK and worldwide, from vaccinating hundreds of thousands of pregnant women and children, have shown that there has been no harm to the women, babies or children vaccinated.

Vaccination is just as important for younger people

Although the risk is higher with age and comorbidities, Covid-19 can affect people of any age, and can cause serious illness, long term complications and death. The vaccine reduces the risk of these consequences. Recently, adults aged 18-64yr have accounted for 40% of daily admissions to hospital.

The vaccines do not contain any animal products

There are no animal products in any of the currently available vaccines in the UK.

The vaccines do not contain alcohol

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines contain no alcohol. The AstraZeneca vaccine contains ethanol in an amount less than that found in natural foods or bread, i.e. negligible. This has been deemed to be negligible and acceptable by religious groups in the UK for whom alcohol would be unacceptable, for example the British Islamic Medical Association.

The vaccines do not contain gluten

The COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the UK do not contain gluten.

The vaccines do not contain foetal or stem cells

The vaccines do not contain foetal cells. Some vaccines (NOT any of the Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the UK) originally used specific foetal cells when they were developed many years ago. These cells are not present in current vaccines.

Vaccines are not being used to chip and track the population

Vaccines do not contain any chips or trackers for surveillance. Independent regulatory authorities across the world from countries that compete with each other have approved the vaccines and not found any microchips. The truth is that there are far easier ways to track the population (mobile phones, bank cards…) than biological trackers.

The vaccines cannot modify your DNA

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines use mRNA technology. The mRNA in these vaccines teach our cells to make a protein similar to those found in the virus that causes Covid-19. This protein is then recognised by the immune system, which produces antibodies to protect the body against Covid-19 infection. The mRNA is broken down within days of entering the body. It never enters the nucleus of our cells, which is where our DNA is kept. There is no way that this mRNA can change the DNA of anyone.

You cannot catch Covid-19 from the Covid-19 vaccines

The vaccines teach our bodies how to recognise and fight the virus which causes Covid-19 but they do not cause Covid-19. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines use mRNA from Covid-19 to teach our body to make a protein which stimulates our immune system. The mRNA cannot be used to make the Covid-19 virus in our bodies. In the AstraZeneca vaccine, the virus has been modified to remove its normal genetic instructions. This has been replaced with instructions to help develop immunity to Covid-19. The modified virus cannot multiply and cause disease in our bodies. There is no live, replicating virus within any of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Covid-19 vaccines cannot make you infertile

There is no evidence to suggest that any of the Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility. A myth around this started when a German epidemiologist suggested that the Covid-19 vaccine could cause the body to make antibodies against a protein found in the placenta because of similarities between this protein and the Covid-19 spike protein. However, there are no similarities between these proteins that could feasibly cause the immune system to affect the placenta. There is also no evidence that the immune response to the spike protein – either from infection with Covid-19 itself, or from the vaccine – has had any effect on the placenta or pregnancy outcomes. The epidemiologist has since admitted that there is no indication that Covid-19 vaccines are likely to affect fertility.

The British Fertility Society, Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists have advised that there is absolutely no evidence, and no theoretical reason, that any of the vaccines can affect the fertility of women or men. People of reproductive age are advised to have the vaccine when they receive their invitation for vaccination. This includes those who are trying to have a baby as well as those who are thinking about having a baby, whether that is in the near future or in a few years’ time.

Dr Fiona Chiplen

Consultant in Palliative Medicine

Weston Hospicecare

29^th November 2021