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Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022

Are COVID-19 vaccines growing new variants inside the bodies of vaccinated people?

Ed Payne, Lead Stories

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.

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