MYTH #1: The COVID-19 vaccine is not safe because it was rapidly developed and tested.
FACT: mRNA vaccines have been studied for five years; this technology was not invented for the pandemic. The emergency situation warranted an emergency response but that does not mean that companies bypassed safety protocols or didn’t perform adequate testing.
Animal studies were not bypassed, as is commonly claimed. No regulatory steps in the rigorous, transparent process of vaccine development were skipped. The vaccine developed by Pfizer / BioNTech has been studied in approximately 43,000 people. The vaccine developed by Moderna has been studied in approximately 30,000 people. There were no specific safety concerns identified in either trial after following participants for 2-3 months following their second dose (at the time of FDA emergency use approval). All other Covid-19 vaccines since approved for use have gone through the same process.