COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: tackle common vaccine myths

Help improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake by tackling these three common myths in people’s minds.


Vaccines are one of medicine’s most amazing and significant developments, estimated to save over six million people every year. Yet, despite being safe for the vast majority of people, a significant percentage of Australians refuse to get the jab.

But, why are people hesitant about getting the COVID-19 jab? And, what can doctors do to help improve vaccination rates?

Here we highlight some of the most common myths associated with COVID-19 vaccines. 

Myth 1: COVID-19 vaccines are not safe because they were rushed into development and testing.

COVID-19 vaccines follow the same strict guidelines as other vaccines, the difference is that a more concerted regulatory efforts was made for COVID-19 vaccines. In other words, the regulatory agencies and researchers worked with an unprecedented  synergy to optimise all the paperwork, funding and other aspect of vaccine development that normally takes years to come together. But, the safety of the vaccine was not compromised. Another important aspect that accelerated the development of COVID-19 vaccine was the availability of patient, something that usually takes years to attain. To learn more about COVID-19 vaccine development, have a read at our article on this topic: “A Miracle on the Making”.

Myth 2: COVID-19 vaccines will alter your DNA or RNA

COVID-19 vaccines such as Pfizer’s Comirnaty are called “mRNA vaccines”. What this means is that they contain small stretches of RNA molecules, which are used by our cells to create protein building blocks that activate our immune system. The mRNA injected into our body will not interact with, edit or alter our DNA or RNA. In fact, it wont even be close to your DNA, as the mRNA does not enter the cell nucleus, where DNA resides. The mRNA from the vaccine will be read like a short message by your cells to create a small stretch of amino acids, used by the immune system. Read more about this topic at the website of the Department of Health, the BBC, and this article from The Conversation.

Myth 3: The Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility.

Evidence shows they are safe and do not cause fertility problems in men or women. Recent studies to check for evidence on this topic can be found in this 2021 article, which showed no significant differences in the number of pregnancies before and after COVID-19 vaccination. For men, this 2021 article shows comparable results, reporting no ill effects on sperm quality due to vaccination. For more information, read this recent review on the topic, providing evidence-based facts and sources.

If you are worried about fertility, try not to catch COVID-19. For men infection by the COVID-19 virus has been shown to cause problems like erectile dysfunction, as we reported earlier this year.

For more information about COVID-19 vaccine myths, head to any of these evidence-based sources: