Are COVID-19 vaccines growing new variants inside the bodies of vaccinated people?
By Ed Payne
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NO
There is a current claim that the COVID-19 vaccine itself is giving rise to the variants.
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that's not how it works:
"New variants of a virus happen because the virus that causes COVID-19 constantly changes through a natural ongoing process of mutation."
The World Health Organization agrees with the CDC that vaccines don't help create new variants. Instead, it says vaccines help prevent variants from emerging. As the virus spreads, it has more opportunities to change. Limiting spread lessens the virus's opportunities to mutate.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Centers for Disease Control Myths and Facts about COVID-19 Vaccines
World Health Organization The effects of virus variants on COVID-19 vaccines
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Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
