LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — As more people are receiving the vaccine, it's important to separate fact from fiction when it comes to safety and effectiveness.
Vince Venditto, an assistant professor at the UK College of Pharmacy, is an expert at vaccine design. Venditto is currently studying the prevalence of COVID-19 in Kentucky
He spoke with LEX 18 Friday to dispel some of the myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.
One myth is that there hasn't been enough testing. Venditto says this is fiction. Other drugs take years to develop, but with this vaccine, the "steps" during development overlapped.
"Because everyone is so interested, they were able to recruit over 40,000 patients in the clinical trials. Because of each of these things - the overlapping manufacturing, as the running of clinical trials and patient recruitment was accelerated," Venditto said.
We don't know the side effects: fiction.
Like, the vaccine causes infertility. Venditto says he would recommend the vaccine to prevent fertility issues.
"We're still collecting data on this, but the virus is found in sperm and there are some connections between the viral levels in sperm and infertility," Venditto said.
The vaccine won't affect my DNA: fact.
The assistant professor says the COVID-19 vaccine is made up of a lipid particle, like something we would eat or oil we cook with. And those particles do not impact any cells long-term.
"So when this is injected in your arm, it gets in the cells, the cells then can produce that viral protein, so that it can amount to the immune response, as soon as the cell is done with the genetic material, it eliminates the genetic material and the lipids from your body," Venditto said.
And of course, there is no chip or marker in the vaccine.
