Video COVID-19 Why it Matters: Part 17, Vaccine myths vs. reality

This video series features UW-Green Bay’s Immunologist Brian Merkel on COVID-19 and Why it Matters. This series empowers viewers with knowledge to help them navigate through the pandemic. Merkel has a Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from the Medical College of Virginia. He is an associate professor in UW-Green Bay’s Human Biology & Biology programs and has an appointment at the Medical College of Wisconsin Department of Microbiology and Immunology. He will be responding to a number of questions related to COVID-19 and try to get behind the “why” it’s important to be educated in your decision-making as we navigate the pandemic together.

Video Transcript – COVID-19 Why it Matters: Part 17, Vaccine myths vs reality

Hello, I am Brian Merkel, Microbiology and Immunology at UW-Green Bay and we’re here to talk about why COVID-19 matters to you.

The vaccines that are currently available the Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine certain myths that are around in terms of this vaccine. There’s no evidence that this vaccine is going to alter your DNA, in that when you get immunized, you’re not being exposed to the virus itself, you get exposed to the RNA. The RNA gets inside your body. It allows our bodies ultimately to develop a response just to the one part of the virus that we need to make a response to. And it’s a very safe vaccine.

One of the things that you can expect, however, is that you may have a fever, you may not feel “right” because our immune systems are normally at rest. So, when we get immunized to things safely, we’re ramping up the immune system by design. All vaccines are different in terms of how efficacious that they are, but 95 percent is very good. As great as 95 percent sounds, which it is, one out of 20, even after immunization, if they get exposed, they certainly can become infected.

The more of us that become vaccinated, the better off we’re going to be. What this is going to do is to decrease the burden of this virus in the environment, in the population and once we get down below a certain threshold then we can begin to think about removing our masks and going back to the life that we used to know. So, when my opportunity comes around, I am really looking forward to getting immunized myself.

COVID-19 Why it Matters: Video Series:

Introduction with Brian Merkel https://youtu.be/M-yYPSPk30Q

Part 1: What are viruses and where did this one come from https://youtu.be/DYbiIv8ICgs

Part 2: Two main types of viruses https://youtu.be/O-OVk3rx96s

Part 3: Why is this virus serious? https://youtu.be/EDFyNN8i5G4

Part 4: Why wash hands/wear mask? https://youtu.be/FlcAvlt876Y

Part 5: I’m young! Why should I care? https://youtu.be/TDrEV_beY1U

Part 6: Can pandemics be stopped before they start? https://youtu.be/lgWnJZNYbFI

Part 7: Pandemic is not local, why wear a mask? https://youtu.be/IG3Sl3q-xH8

Part 8: Why does everyone need a flu shot this year? https://youtu.be/DGpBFj0fJkA

Part 9: What is the science behind a vaccine? https://youtu.be/eQ3FclkYaQo

Part 10: Where can I find accurate information? https://youtu.be/pLMlU5Xnkgo

Part 11: What type of mask should I wear? https://youtu.be/gCFHxQvkVYE

Part 12: Why HUGE COVID-19 spikes in Wisconsin? https://youtu.be/OuqmXvrDApY

Part 13: Fall break, protect yourself & others https://youtu.be/h21Ed_bBTE4

Part 14: Why is COVID-19 Testing so Important? https://youtu.be/Fr9VJZZrTE0

Part 15: What are COVID-19 Antibodies? https://youtu.be/J2lfJzoUEHI

Part 16: Will the vaccine protect against new COVID-19 variants? https://youtu.be/5l58jEZv3NQ

Part 17: Vaccine myths vs reality https://youtu.be/bGqLsRRbzVk