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By Karen Tomlinson

Director of Student Health Services

The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most challenging public health events many of us have faced in our lives. University of North Georgia (91¸£Àûµ¼º½) officials continue to work with local and state health agencies to monitor COVID-19 and provide vaccines.

The vaccines are effective in keeping people from getting the virus or having a severe illness if they do. They also help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. Getting vaccinated can help you protect yourself and those around you.

Accurate vaccine information can help stop common myths and rumors that may prevent you from receiving the vaccine.

• Myth: The COVID-19 vaccine will change my DNA.
• Fact: The COVID-19 vaccines are designed to help your body's immune system fight the coronavirus. The messenger RNA from two of the first types of COVID-19 vaccines does not enter the nucleus of the cells where DNA resides, and DNA is not affected.

• Myth: If I've already had COVID-19, I don't need a vaccine.
• Fact: Evidence continues to indicate that getting a COVID-19 vaccine is the best protection against getting COVID-19, whether you have already had COVID-19 or not.

• Myth: Researchers rushed the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, so its effectiveness and safety cannot be trusted.
• Fact: Studies found that the two initial vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are both about 95% effective — and reported no serious or life-threatening side effects. The COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were created with a method that has been in development for years. The vaccine developers didn't skip any testing steps. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines can be developed quicker than traditional vaccines.

However, COVID-19 is not the only health threat that our campuses will be dealing with in the next several months. Flu season has begun. There are also common myths about the flu vaccine:

• Myth: The flu vaccine will give me the flu.
• Fact: The intramuscular flu vaccine is structured similarly to the influenza virus but is not a "live" virus. It cannot give you the flu. There can be side effects similar to the flu after receiving the vaccine, but that is your body's immune response to the vaccine, not the actual flu.

• Myth: Getting the flu vaccine increases my chance of getting COVID-19.
• Fact: There has been no evidence that receiving the flu vaccine increases your chance of getting COVID-19 or any other respiratory infection.

• Myth: The flu vaccine does not work.
• Fact: Vaccine manufacturers create a flu vaccine with the four most common flu viruses from the previous flu season. The virus can mutate (change) as most viruses do, and some vaccinated people may actually be diagnosed with the flu at some point. However, even then, the symptoms are expected to be less severe.

Our 91¸£Àûµ¼º½ campus communities become stronger and safer with every person who receives vaccines for COVID-19 and the flu. Registration for COVID-19 vaccine clinics for students is available on the Student Health Services webpage. Flu shots are available daily by appointment while supplies last on the Dahlonega (706-864-1948) and Gainesville (678-696-2676) campuses.