The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration have multiple surveillance systems for ensuring vaccine safety. If a health issue occurs after vaccination, people are encouraged to submit information to one of these systems, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Experts do analysis and comb through the submissions to identify and follow-up on adverse reactions that might be due to vaccines.
Misconception: Vaccination
Why were the COVID-19 vaccines authorized on an emergency basis, and how is that different from full approval?
The Food and Drug Administration expedited review of the vaccines because of the public health risks of the ongoing pandemic. All three vaccines in use in the U.S. were rolled out under an emergency use authorization, or EUA, which is typically less stringent than the full licensure, which is called a biologics license application, or BLA. However, the FDA added more rigorous requirements for a COVID-19 vaccine EUA.
Under a standard EUA, regulators must determine that the product “may be effective” and the “known and potential benefits outweigh the known and potential risks.” For these EUAs,
How were safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines developed so rapidly?
The unprecedented speed of the COVID-19 vaccines was due to multiple factors.
Candidates for an mRNA vaccine — the technology used for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines — can be quickly designed once scientists know the genetic sequence of the virus and which protein to target. Researchers already knew from past experience with SARS and MERS, which are other diseases caused by coronaviruses, that the spike protein the virus uses to enter cells was likely the right one.
Biden’s Misleading Vaccine Boasts
Instagram Post Makes Invalid Comparison Between COVID-19 and Flu Vaccines
Video Makes Bogus Claims About ‘War Crimes’ and COVID-19 Vaccine Safety
A video falsely claims that people receiving authorized COVID-19 vaccines are taking part in a deadly clinical trial and that those administering the doses are war criminals under the Nuremberg Code. That’s bogus. People getting the vaccines, which have been shown to be safe and effective, consent to receive them and aren’t participating in research.
Video Uses Bogus Claims to Stoke Race-Based Fears of COVID-19 Vaccine
A viral video clip makes bogus claims about COVID-19 vaccines and falsely accuses the government of “pure racism” for “push[ing] this heavily on Blacks and browns.” Public health experts have recommended prioritizing those communities for the vaccine because they have suffered higher rates of infection and death.