Dr. Francis S. Collins is the Director for the National Institutes of Health. The organization is responsible for several discoveries in medicine and helps with medical advancements, Dr. Francis S. Collin’s job is to oversee the entire organization. He came on The Bobby Bones Show to lend his expert knowledge to The Bobby Bones Show about the COVID vaccines.
There are a few different companies that put out a COVID vaccine with the most well-known ones being Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen. Dr. Collins shared that there aren’t many differences in the three vaccines. They’re all effective and safe, noting that they’ve all been tested and trialed with 30,000 people each. They are all highly effective and people should just take whichever one gets offered to them first. He debunked some myths about the vaccines circling social media. He said the shots don’t actually give you the COVID-19 virus, because it doesn’t have the virus in it. The shots actually just have a particular protein in it to help your cells fight the virus. He also added that the vaccine does not cause infertility and there aren’t medical chips in it, adding that a chip couldn’t fit through a needle.
For those concerned about the vaccine being rushed, Dr. Collins shared that the companies used technology that’s been created over the past several decades. The only difference this time is that they were extremely efficient about finding the vaccines rather than rushing any sort of the creation process. He complimented all those who worked to create the vaccines saying, “I’ve never seen anything done better than this.” There has been some different side effects for those who have already received the vaccine, Dr. Collins said some people are getting sick and some aren’t. But despite the different side effects, that doesn’t correlate to if your body has a good antibody response or not and it has more to do with how your immune system is wired. He also added that if someone is experience symptoms than they can be reassured that the vaccine is in fact working.
Just because people are getting vaccinated, doesn’t mean the mask wearing is over. Dr. Collins said it’s not time to stop wearing the mask after you get vaccinated. He said vaccinated individuals could still carry the virus and give it to other people. So their team is working to gather more data before they suggest that individuals no longer have to wear masks. If you are at a small gathering with all other people that are vaccinated, you can not wear a mask. But if anyone isn’t vaccinated, he suggests people wear their masks for the sake of others.
