FALSE: Vaccination exposes you to COVID-19 infection

At a glance

• Claim: Vaccination exposes you to COVID-19 infection. 
• Rating: FALSE
• The facts: You cannot get a COVID-19 infection from the vaccine. Multiple medical societies still recommend getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The Baltimore study that presidential candidate Jose Montemayor Jr. cited also found that those hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated.
• Why we fact-checked this: This claim was made by presidential aspirant and cardiologist Montemayor during the Comelec-sponsored presidential debates. 

Complete details

On Saturday, March 19, presidential candidate Jose Montemayor Jr., a doctor, made the claim that COVID-19 vaccines expose you to infection. In the debate organized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), he said: “Palagi ‘nyong hinahanapan niyan (vaccination cards) when, in fact, ang mismong vaccination will expose you to infection! This the reverse now, according to the Baltimore study.”

(You always look for the vaccination card, when in fact vaccination will expose you to infection!)

This claim is false.

You cannot get a COVID-19 infection from the vaccine. All vaccines need something that can teach your body to trigger an immune response against the COVID-19 virus. This can come in the form of a messenger RNA, a weakened form of the virus, a viral vector that contains material from COVID-19, or a protein from the COVID-19. 

All of these have been carefully studied and tested so as to not give you a COVID-19 infection, or any other infection. 

The possibility of getting COVID-19 even after being fully vaccinated can be further minimized by getting booster shots and adhering to the minimum public health standards.

The need for vaccination is still paramount. Data has shown that those who get COVID-19, those who are hospitalized because of it, and those who die from it are still higher in groups of people who are unvaccinated when compared to those who have been vaccinated.

Montemayor’s claims have run counter to those of The Philippine Heart Association, The Philippine Pediatric Society, and the Philippine Infectious Disease Society of the Phillippines. These doctors’ groups all recommend getting vaccinated against COVID-19. The science is clear: the benefits of vaccination outweigh any potential risks. – Renzo Arceta/Rappler.com

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