mRNA Vaccines Are Here to Stay: Debunking Myths and False Information

I often think back to the fall of 2020 when we were anxiously anticipating vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The federal government and its Operation Warp Speed had put an unprecedented program into place to get COVID-19 vaccines across the finish line at a pace never before achieved in the world of vaccine development. Immunization programs (like the one I was leading in Tennessee) were working overtime to ensure that when the vaccines became available, we could get them into arms as quickly as possible. People were clamoring to get vaccinated. Debates around which groups were deemed “most essential” to protect were occurring in every jurisdiction. Vaccines were urgently moved from one location to another if there was a chance that even one dose might expire before it could be administered. And then, as we all know, the fear and false information began to spread, especially when it came to mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines.

What we have tried to communicate for more than five years now is that, while COVID-19 mRNA vaccines were the first vaccines to use an mRNA platform, this wasn’t new technology. mRNA has been around since the dawn of life. We literally cannot live without it. mRNA vaccines had been in development for decades prior to the pandemic. In 2013, an mRNA-based rabies vaccine was the first to be tested in humans. None of this was “new” but, for the first time, there was real emphasis on communicating the technology of COVID-19 vaccines to the public. And when you start talking about the details of immunity and how vaccines work with a public that is largely unfamiliar with the science, questions are going to come up. Unfortunately, while myths and false information can be quickly spread in a social media post or a soundbite, explaining the science takes a lot longer and, quite frankly, just isn’t as titillating as suggesting someone might become magnetic or be injected with a microchip because of a vaccination.

The truth is that mRNA vaccines are the new frontier of vaccines. These vaccines use mRNA to tell the body to make proteins that train the immune system to identify and destroy things like viruses and bacteria that cause disease. The vaccines can be created quickly and can be rapidly reformulated to adjust for changing viral variants. Flu vaccines, for example, can now be made using mRNA technology. mRNA flu vaccines can be updated for circulating strains more quickly than those made using older platforms. That translates to more readily available vaccines with the potential to work more effectively to prevent disease. But mRNA technology doesn’t stop at vaccines against viruses and bacteria. This technology is also being studied to treat or cure existing diseases such as cancers, allergies, autoimmune conditions, and genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia. The possibilities are truly endless and can mean less suffering and longer, healthier lives for millions of people.

The rumors and claims of harm from mRNA vaccines only serve to spread fear about a technology that has the potential to save our own lives or the life of someone we love. Researchers can spend all the time and resources they have developing mRNA-based products, but if people are too afraid to use them because of what they’ve read on social media or heard on a podcast, they’re not going to save many lives. Just like vaccines, these products are worthless if they never make it out of the bottle.

So, here’s a quick debunk of the most heard claims against mRNA technology with the hope that hearts and minds will eventually trust these products enough to allow science to help them:

• Can mRNA vaccines alter your DNA? No. mRNA is like a recipe that is used to make a protein that, in the case of an mRNA vaccine, is used to teach our immune system to identify and destroy a virus or other disease-causing entity that contains that protein. mRNA does not change DNA, and mRNA given in a vaccine does not get into the nucleus of the cell where the DNA lives. mRNA vaccines are not “gene therapy” because gene therapy requires a change in DNA, and vaccine mRNA cannot physically reach our DNA. Vaccine mRNA and our DNA never interact. They’re kept in separate rooms inside our cells. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-myths/art-20485720
• Can mRNA vaccines cause “turbo cancers?” No. First, this isn’t a recognized term in medicine or science, it’s a term that was made up to scare people on social media. Second, there is no credible evidence linking mRNA vaccines to the development or acceleration of cancers. In fact, there’s emerging evidence that severe COVID-19 infection may increase the risk of developing lung cancer. https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(26)00220-5
• Can mRNA vaccines cause infertility? No. There is no biologically plausible reason why an mRNA vaccine, or any vaccine for that matter, would cause infertility, but this has been an effective scare tactic of anti-vaccine groups for decades. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines protect pregnant women and their fetuses. However, COVID-19 disease has been linked to lower sperm quality in men. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35176002/; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-94570-5. The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists recommends that all pregnant and lactating individuals receive an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Bottom line: mRNA-based vaccine technology is here to stay and will likely be responsible for not only more rapidly produced and effective vaccines against infectious diseases, but also treatments for existing diseases, including cancers. If society is to benefit from this innovation, scientists, clinicians, and public health professionals will need to continually provide education and reassurance to the public that vaccines and therapeutics that use an mRNA-based platform are beneficial. We need to consistently refute the ongoing attempts to promote cynicism and fear around these products. Sadly, some people will continue to refuse these products out of fear of the falsehoods they’ve heard, and lives that might have been saved will be needlessly lost.