COVID-19 vaccines are effective at protecting against severe forms of the disease. Research shows that the placentas of pregnant individuals are unharmed by the vaccines. By contrast, SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy poses a higher risk of placental lesions and deficiencies, which places a pregnant individual at risk of complications.
COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at protecting against severe illness and death. Vaccine recommendations change in response to the changes in the need for vaccination, which depends on factors like the level of immunity in the population, the level of threat posed by an infectious agent, and the benefit-risk tradeoff of a vaccine.
COVID-19 vaccination provides the best protection against COVID-19. Like any other vaccine, COVID-19 vaccines can cause side effects, but most of them are mild and disappear after a few days. While serious reactions to vaccination can occur, they are very rare. Current evidence indicates that the potential risks of vaccination don’t outweigh their benefits at preventing severe COVID-19 and death.
Viral shedding is associated with live attenuated vaccines, such as the MMR vaccine and chickenpox vaccine. This occurs because the weakened viruses used in live vaccines still retain the ability to reproduce themselves using our cells’ protein-making machinery. However, none of the COVID-19 vaccines available to date use live viruses. In addition, COVID-19 mRNA vaccines don’t induce high-enough levels of spike protein production that would lead the protein to be excreted. Scientific studies showed that SARS-CoV-2 infection causes shedding, but not vaccination.
Scientific studies showed that COVID-19 vaccines don’t cause miscarriage or stillbirths. Pharmacosurveillance monitoring databases such as VAERS cannot be used alone to establish a causal association between vaccination and any medical condition. Public health agencies and medical associations recommend pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Multiple scientific studies have documented the detrimental effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the heart, suggesting that COVID-19 is a significant contributor to the increase in heart attacks among young people during the pandemic, although other factors, such as a delay in care due to lockdowns and healthcare disruption, could also have contributed to it. Studies show that the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their risks, and that vaccinated people don’t have a greater risk of heart attack compared to unvaccinated people.
Vaccination harnesses the capabilities of both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system. Clinical trials and post-marketing studies showed that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children. Although COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are associated with rare cases of myocarditis, post-vaccine myocarditis has a much better prognosis compared to COVID-19-associated myocarditis. The risk of myocarditis and future cardiovascular complications are higher with COVID-19. Therefore, COVID-19 vaccines’ benefits outweigh their possible risks even for children.
Nattokinase is an enzyme that was first isolated from natto, a traditional Japanese dish made of fermented soybeans. Research so far has shown that it can break apart proteins involved in blood clotting, which enables it to dissolve blood clots. While one study by Tanikawa et al. found that nattokinase could break down spike protein, the study was unrelated to long COVID and the experiments were performed in cells in the lab. Therefore, the results may not reflect what happens in the human body and also provide no information about its effects on long COVID.
Wireless communications transfer data from one point to another using electromagnetic waves. When traveling through the air, these waves interact with particles and substances, such as oxygen, that can absorb part of their energy. This phenomenon causes the electromagnetic signal to lose strength with distance but doesn’t change the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere nor makes it unavailable to the body. Electromagnetic waves can also interact with biological tissues, but current exposure hasn’t been associated with health problems in people.
Medicinal herbs can be effective in treating some diseases or alleviating their symptoms. However, no clinical data so far has shown that mullein leaves or marshmallow roots are effective at treating or mitigating COVID-19.
