Blog

In recent weeks, Florida has become “ground zero” of this summer’s COVID-19 outbreak, currently making up a fifth of all infections and hospitalizations in the country. This is due to the highly contagious delta variant.

As more people contract the virus, many of them are reaching out from their hospital beds begging others to get the vaccine that they declined. But our concierge primary care doctors in Jupiter also know that many of you still have questions or concerns about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

So we’d like to offer some answers to common COVID-19 vaccine questions.

Q. Weren’t the vaccines developed too fast?

A. While the vaccines for the novel coronavirus were available in near-record time, the technology they use has actually existed for decades. The mRNA technology in the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines was developed in 1990.

Tai Brosh, head of the Infectious Disease Unit at Samson Assuta Ashdod Hospital, explained the technology this way:

The vaccine, he told the Jerusalem Post, it is like a USB device (i.e., the mRNA) that is inserted into a computer (i.e., your body). It does not impact the hard drive of the computer, but simply runs a certain program (the coronavirus vaccine).

If you still have concerns, however, consider the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It uses a technology found in many other more traditional vaccines.

Q. Why haven’t the all vaccines been fully approved?

A. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has just ben approved by the FDA this week. Millions of people have already received the vaccine with almost no issues.

Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, recently explained to The Washington Post that full approval usually takes months, but the agency has gone “all hands on deck” to put every available researcher on the coronavirus vaccine trials.

“You have a lot more data to review [for full authorization] than for an emergency use authorization. In terms of pages to review . . . it’s going from tens of thousands of pages to hundreds of thousands of pages,” he said.

Q. Do the vaccines work against the delta variant?

A. According to a study by the U.K. agency Public Health England, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 88 percent effective at stopping the delta variant from causing symptoms. Moderna, which uses the same technology, is thought to be similarly effective.

And a new study out of South Africa found the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 95 percent effective in preventing deaths and 71 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations.

Q. If “breakthrough” infections occur, why bother?

A. No vaccine is 100 percent effective, including the coronavirus vaccines. But the fact is, of those who are currently being hospitalized with COVID-19, 94-99 percent haven’t been vaccinated.

The Associated Press (AP) did a survey using data from the CDC. It found that of the more than 18,000 Americans who died from the virus in May, only 150 received the vaccine. Other surveys show similar results.

That means you’re still far less likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 once you’ve been fully vaccinated. You can, however, get a milder case, although that is much less likely.

“Fully” vaccinated, by the way, means that you’ve received both shots of the mRNA vaccines or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine and allowed two more weeks for your body to produce the necessary antibodies.

Q. What about side effects?

A. Serious side effects have been rare and are immediately investigated. Both Pfizer’s and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines have been temporarily halted when serious adverse effects were reported. Authorities determined that the cases were extremely rare and that the advantages of the vaccines far outweighed the risks.

As for milder side effects, between one half and three quarters of those who receive the vaccine will experience some type of side effect. The most common is a sore arm. Other typical side effects can include headache, fever, and lethargy, although some experience stronger reactions. All of these clear up in a matter of hours or days.

Q. Does the vaccine contain a microchip to track us?

A. No. Such technology doesn’t exist. The syringes themselves contain a radio frequency identification (RFID) device that tracks when and where the vaccine was administered. That RFID chip cannot be injected into the body.

Q. Will the vaccine give me COVID?

A. No. There is no live virus in any of the vaccines. There is no possible way they can give you the virus.

Q. Will the vaccine magnetize my arm/body?

A. No. There’s nothing in the vaccine solution that can do anything like this. It mostly contains pure water, some simple salts to make the injection less painful, and a tiny amount of the active vaccine.

Q. Will the vaccine turn us all into chimpanzees?

A. No. And we’re not being sarcastic with this question. This is from an actual Russian disinformation campaign that Facebook banned earlier this month.

We’ve said it before, but we need to keep repeating it because the flood of misinformation never seems to stop: Dr. Internet is not your friend. If you read something online that sounds scary, please check out the facts with us. If you have more questions about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.