Addressing COVID-19 Vaccine Shedding Myth
Vaccines have protected our population for decades, from polio to measles, and even cancer causing human papillomavirus. The COVID-19 vaccine is no different and up until this point, some 441 million doses have been administered in the United States.
Vaccines work in many different ways, but the main component is the small amounts of a disease-causing pathogen which have been altered in some way to be harmless to the body. This small concentration of a pathogen of the same or similar viral origins allows the body to develop an immune response and create a pathway in order to identify the immune system of a true, pathogenic invasion. This is how vaccines protect you from illness that could lead to hospitalization or even death.
With some vaccines, a phenomenon called vaccine shedding can occur. Vaccine shedding occurs when a vaccinated individual can release bits of the components of the vaccine into the air. While this is possible, it is not a phenomenon that occurs with the COVID-19 vaccine.
Live-attenuated vaccines are the only vaccine type that can cause shedding, this is because these types of vaccines contain a weakened form of the pathogen that you are being protected against. The weakened nature disables the pathogen from causing disease, except in immunocompromised individuals where this type of vaccine is not recommended for. Because the pathogens in this vaccine type are still technically alive, they are able to replicate in the body and thus, cause an immune response. But, even if they are passed to someone else they are extremely unlikely to cause disease. The types of vaccines that are of this type include:
· Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine
· Flu nasal spray vaccine
· Chickenpox vaccine
· Rotavirus vaccine
All of the other vaccine types — inactivated, subunit, recombinant, polysaccharide, conjugate, toxoid, viral vector (the type of vaccine used in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), and mRNA (the type of vaccine system used for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines) do not cause vaccine shedding in anyway.
With this, it is impossible for any of the vaccines currently authorized for use to shed because they do not contain any form of live SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.
mRNA vaccines use genetic material, RNA, to enter your cells and give the cell instructions on how to make a spike protein. This protein will allow the body to recognize and notify the immune system of infection as well as create an immune response so that the body can more effectively fight the infection without causing hospitalization or death. After the spike protein is produced, the mRNA is broken down and destroyed. Destroying the spike protein also inhibits any way of vaccine shedding occurring, as the protein cannot circulate. In no way can the mRNA vaccine affect your personal DNA.
With a viral vector vaccine, the spike protein is learned by the body via a modified version of an adenovirus (the virus that causes the common cold) that does not have the ability to replicate or cause illness. After the body learns how to make the spike protein, the virus is destroyed in the same way as the mRNA vaccine.
As with all vaccines, it is important to talk to your doctor to find out which vaccine is best for you when considering vaccination.
References:
https://www.healthline.com/health/is-the-coronavirus-vaccine-safe
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