Incorrect: COVID-19 Vaccines Do not Cause Death of People with High Blood Pressure or Diabetes

Paynesville — A WhatsApp message claims that people who have high blood pressure or diabetes, should not take any of the COVID-19 vaccines because of fears the vaccine could cause their death. But when LocalVoicesLiberia checked, we found that this claim is incorrect.

Report By: Grace Z. Gaie, Local Voices Liberia Fact Checker  

Evidence from both the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that COVID-19 vaccines may have some serious adverse effects but they help build the vaccinated person’s immune system. It’s common to experience some mild-to-moderate side effects after receiving vaccinations. Getting vaccinated helps protect people against developing severe COVID-19 and dying from COVID-19.

Both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not found any evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines leads to death. According to the WHO, vaccines are designed to give you immunity without the dangers of getting the disease.

In fact, people with certain health conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes are advised to take more precautions to avoid getting COVID-19 because they are more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19 if they contract the disease.

Meanwhile, whenever people experience side effects after taking a COVID-19 vaccine, it means that their immune system is instructing their body to react in certain ways, it increases blood flow so more immune cells can circulate, and it raises body temperature in order to build immunity against the virus.

Meanwhile, whenever people experience side effects after taking a COVID-19 vaccine, it means that their immune system is teaching their body to react in certain ways. There is no active virus in the vaccine. Side effects come from the body as it practices how to fight the virus in case it is encountered in the future. For example, some people experience a fever after receiving the vaccine. That is a sign that the body is learning how to sweat out the virus, should it encounter the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the future

According to the CDC, more than 80% of COVID-19 deaths occur in people who are over 65 years old and more than 95% of COVID-19 deaths occur in people older than 45.

Deaths, as a result of COVID-19, are mostly linked to the underlining heath conductions itself and not the vaccines considering that scientists and public health bodies have determine that these vaccines are safe and protect people against the virus.

Conclusion

Based on the research conducted about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, we concluded that this claim is incorrect because there is no evidence showing that the vaccine causes death. In fact, as the CDC states, people with underlying conditions including hypertension and diabetes are especially vulnerable to severe illness and death from COVID-19, and therefore it is even more important that they consider getting vaccinated against the disease.

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