CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Health officials continue to encourage vaccination against COVID-19, saying the vaccine is our way out of the pandemic.
Despite overwhelming data that shows the vaccine is safe and effective against severe illness, there are some people online who are claiming the COVID-19 vaccine isn't a real vaccine, discounting its validity and effectiveness against the virus.
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According to the CDC, vaccines contain ingredients called antigens, which help the body develop protection against specific diseases. Vaccines also contain very small amounts of ingredients that are necessary to make the vaccine and protect it from spoiling before it is used.
The FDA's website has a list of each vaccine and what the ingredients are.
Both Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines that send the body cell instructions for making a spike protein that will train the immune system to recognize it. The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a carrier vaccine made with adenovirus as a shell that carries genetic code to spike proteins cells.
"It is important for people to understand that the COVID vaccine is in fact, a vaccine that any of the other immunizations that we offer, ranging from the childhood vaccine to the flu vaccine," Robinson said.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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