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City Limits: Experts Say COVID Vaccines Don't Alter Your DNA

By Bob Zaltsberg

Posted August 23, 2021

Army Spc. Angel Laureano holds a vial of the COVID-19 vaccine, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., Dec. 14, 2020.

(DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

City Limits will address five commonly offered reasons for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 this week in a short Q&A series. Today’s question:

Do mRNA vaccines, like Pfizer’s, alter a human’s genetic code?

No, according to multiple sources including IU Health infectious disease specialist Dr. Tom Hrisomalos. He said claims about changing or interacting with your DNA in any way are simply not true.

Listen: CDC Recommends COVID-19 Booster Shots, Mask Mandate Returns

On Noon Edition Friday, Hrisomalos concurred with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) information, which states: mRNA “deliver instructions (genetic material) to our cells to start building protection against the virus that causes COVID-19. However, the material never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where the DNA is kept.”

Here's Hrisomalos: "Messenger RNA vaccines, the messenger that is in the vaccine, is absorbed into the cytoplasm of the cell. It does not go into the nucleus. It does not interact with the DNA. It does not alter the DNA, and there is no genetic alteration or risk of cancer."

WebMD, the Mayo Clinic and the World Health Organization are among many internet sources that say the same thing.

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