HealthPartners addresses common COVID-19 myths and misconceptions

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines mark a huge and hopeful milestone in a pandemic that’s killed more than 4,100 Minnesotans so far. But, continued misinformation about the virus, as well as vaccine safety, could slow a return to normalcy and put hundreds of lives at risk.

The following list includes common COVID-19 myths and misconceptions, as well as what we know when it comes to this virus.

COVID-19 Myths

Myth: It’s just like the flu. People are blowing it out of proportion.
Fact: It’s not just like the flu – it’s much more deadly. In Minnesota, COVID-19 is responsible for more deaths than the last 10 flu seasons combined.

Myth: Hospitals say they’re “full,” but “full” doesn’t mean full of COVID-19 patients.
Fact: HealthPartners hospitals remain busy, with 86 percent of medical/surgical beds full, and 96 percent of ICU beds full. Every COVID-19 patient occupying a hospital bed makes it more difficult for other people to get timely care for serious health conditions.

Myth: Just because people are in the hospital with COVID-19 doesn’t mean they were hospitalized because it was giving them trouble. They just tested positive once they were being seen for something else.
Fact: Since HealthPartners started collecting data, it has had about 602 positives out of 27,634 tests of asymptomatic hospitalized patients, for a 2.18 percent positivity rate. While the health system does include these COVID numbers among our hospitalized patients, they make up a small percentage of all of our COVID patients. This means the vast major of patients with COVID-19 are hospitalized because it’s endangering their lives.

COVID-19 Vaccine Specific Myths

Myth: The COVID-19 vaccine could give you COVID-19.
Fact: The vaccines that are coming to market now do not use any live or attenuated (weakened) COVID-19 virus to illicit an immune response, so it’s not possible for someone to get COVID-19 from one of the vaccines.

Myth: People will have longer, stronger protection against COVID-19 if they just get the disease, so we should work toward natural herd immunity.
Fact: We don’t know that. But, if we wait for natural herd immunity, which may not occur for years, hundreds of thousands more people will die. Vaccines are a far safer way to achieve widespread immunity so that we can return to our normal lives.

Myth: Scientists cut corners to make these vaccines so they might not be safe.
Fact: During the COVID-19 pandemic, major resource investments were made in vaccine development, allowing for swift, yet comprehensive, research. In addition, because COVID-19 is so widespread right now, it’s been easier to glean insights quickly. Tens of thousands of people have already received the vaccine and there have been very few serious adverse events that occurred during research.