5 Myths About Vaccines As Flu Season Approaches

Tim Moran
·2 min read

ACROSS AMERICA — As the global race to develop a coronavirus vaccine takes shape, the debate over the effectiveness of vaccines in general rages on.

Those in favor of vaccinating children and adults point to its high effectiveness in preventing people from becoming sick. But others reference cases in which a vaccinated person has become ill from the same disease for which the immunization was designed to avert.

But rumors and myths have clouded the debate, with countless reputable studies exposing reports of dangers as unfounded.

Here are a few of those myths, explained.

Myth #1: Vaccines are 100 percent effective.

  • They are not. No vaccine has a 100 percent success rate, the World Health Organization has said. But some come close. The vaccine for measles, one of the most effective, has a 98 percent success rate. And the WHO also said most routine childhood vaccines are effective in 85 percent to 95 percent of kids.

Myth #2: Vaccines cause autism.

  • More than a dozen studies have been conducted looking for a link between vaccinations and autism, but all have come up empty, according to a WebMD report. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published a study, and follow-up report, declaring “there is no link between vaccines and autism.”

Myth #3: "Anti-vaxxers" hold that belief for religious purposes.

  • Most mainstream religions do not condemn vaccines. Buddhism, Roman Catholicism and Judaism are among the majority of faiths that have no objection to the use of vaccines, according to a Vanderbilt University report on immunizations and religion. The Church of Christ, Scientist, however, has an anti-vaccination stance as one of its major facets. “One of the basic teachings of this denomination is that disease can be cured or prevented by focused prayer and members will often request exemptions when available,” the Vanderbilt study said. “However, there are not strict rules against vaccination and members can receive required vaccinations.”

Myth #4: A vaccine will prevent any outbreak.

  • Just because a vaccine exists does not mean the disease it’s aimed at can’t spread rapidly and create a new outbreak. Even though measles was declared to be eradicated from the United States in 2000, the CDC has reported multiple outbreaks in seven of the past 10 years. Measles remains common in a number of other countries, according to the CDC, and American travelers have spread the disease within their own communities upon return.

Myth #5: Vaccinations can cause diseases, too.

  • They can’t because vaccines do not contain active viruses, according to a Rush University Medical Center report on vaccine myths. Vaccines stimulate immune systems to produce the antibodies needed to fight diseases. “The inactive viruses in vaccines essentially trick the immune system into thinking there’s a threat so it will churn out those protective antibodies,” the Rush report said.

This article originally appeared on the Across America Patch