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Monday, Nov. 15, 2021

Did Merriam-Webster remove the ‘immunity’ section from its new definition of ‘vaccine’?

Christiana Dillard, Lead Stories
no

Social media doesn't usually use the word "literally" correctly. In this case it did, when a Facebook post claimed, "Merriam Webster has literally changed the definition of 'vaccine.'"

Merriam-Webster did update its long-held definition of "vaccine." However, the portion alluding to immunity was not removed, it was reworded.

The old definition read in part,

"A preparation…that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease."

In the new definition, the language is adjusted to,

"A preparation that is administered (as by injection) to stimulate the body's immune response against a specific infectious agent or disease."

The updated entry also adds examples that help explain the science behind mRNA vaccines, which were widely released for public use during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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