The COVID-19 vaccine has become accessible to Americans. The next step in the process is to convince those who are hesitant to receive the vaccine that it’s a safe procedure, which means debunking myths.
Over the weekend, John Oliver dove into dispelling myths during his main story on “Last Week Tonight.”
One of the first myths that Oliver debunks is over the vaccine being rushed, and as a result, those who receive the vaccine are guinea pigs for an untested vaccine. The HBO host stated that researchers are working on vaccines combating other coronaviruses for years, which means they had a “significant head start” when COVID-19 hit.
Oliver adds that “Operation Warp Speed” doesn’t mean that there was a rush to put out the vaccine. This name is due to cutting the bureaucratic red tape that could have possibly delayed the availability of a vaccine.
Another myth that Oliver debunked on the segment is the side effects. Some Americans don’t want to receive the vaccine because of the after-effects that could come with it. Oliver did recognize that side effects do occur; however, he did add that extreme cases like anaphylaxis are rare.
“The key thing to remember is that no side effect of the vaccine is worse than the alternative: COVID, a disease that has killed over 500,000 people in the U.S. alone while, once again, to date, the vaccine has been proven to kill exactly zero,” Oliver said.
“It is more than natural to have questions, but there are reassuring answers out there, and anyone throwing out questions without acknowledging that probably has another agenda entirely.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
