False: More people are dying from the COVID-19 vaccine than from the virus.

By: Pallavi Sethi
January 27 2022

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The vaccines are highly effective in preventing death from COVID-19. As an unvaccinated person, you have a higher chance of dying from the virus.There has been widespread misinformation around the use of COVID-19 vaccines, with some claiming that the vaccine has killed more people than COVID-19 has. However, such claims about vaccine safety are baseless. The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. According to the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA), vaccines play a vital role in ending the COVID-19 pandemic. A video doing the rounds on Facebook makes several unfounded claims about the vaccine. Logically has debunked such falsehoods in the past. The first claim states that if you take the COVID-19 vaccine, you are "injuring yourself" as the vaccine is an "mRNA gene cell technology." This is not true. England's Genomics Education Programme explains that mRNA vaccines do not enter the cell nucleus or interact with the DNA and are therefore not gene therapies. Unlike traditional vaccines, mRNA vaccines do not contain the protein; instead, they instruct the cells in our bodies to manufacture the protein. The cells then produce the protein by using the mRNA blueprint. Next, the immune system recognizes the protein as foreign and produces antibodies to help us fight against infection. The second claim states that "vaccine injury" is killing people rather than the virus as during the "height of the pandemic," there were "very few funerals." It wrongly states that the vaccines are causing "heart attacks, strokes, and myocarditis." Logically has previously checked a similar claim and found no evidence that suggests an increased risk of heart problems following COVID-19 vaccines. Myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis, inflammation of the outer heart lining remain rare side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that the known risks of COVID-19 "far outweigh" the potential risks of a rare side effect from the vaccine. The World Health Organization reports that more than five million people globally have died due to the COVID-19 virus. There is also mention of the Yellow Card scheme, a reporting system run by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The scheme collects and monitors safety concerns, including suspected vaccine adverse events. The goal of the Yellow Card system is to "provide an early warning" concerning a medical device. However, the system's reported side effects are not proven side effects, as its website explicitly states. Furthermore, anyone can record an adverse event. In August, Logically reported that conspiracy websites such as the Daily Expose repeatedly misinterpreted Yellow Card data to assert that COVID-19 vaccines cause deaths or serious injuries. In September 2021, the Independent noted that the COVID-19 vaccines prevented nearly 125,000 deaths. COVID-19 vaccines remain a vital tool in our battle against the virus. Getting vaccinated hugely decreases the chance of catching and dying from COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.