There are a lot of crazy, nonsense claims that get thrown out there by people with an agenda against vaccines. Mostly it seems they just pick up talking points from a Facebook post they never bothered to even do a simple Google search on and throw a bunch of stuff at the wall to see what sticks.
Claims range from the almost believable to the absolutely laughable (e.g. the vaccines have mind control microchips in them, they’ll turn you into a zombie, they have space alien DNA in them, etc.). The laughably stupid claims aren’t really a big deal because the only people who buy into that sort of nonsense choose to live in fantasy. The more believable claims (e.g. they can alter your DNA, they’re placebo that don’t do anything, etc.) are more insidious because rational people who don’t have a strong background in the subject can be duped by them.
Definitely ask questions when someone’s making extraordinary claims, and ask for links to authoritative reference sources. If they give you Alex Jones conspiracy websites with chemtrails and space aliens and CIA mind control machines, that info is probably garbage. If they give you an actual scientific journal link such as Nature of The Lancet, make sure you read at least the abstract and the results sections. Sometimes claims get made by taking a small snipet of info from a study out of context and giving it a whole new - make-believe - context so it fits someone’s personal agenda.
That should read “Nature OR The Lancet”.
Nature of The Lancet sounds like some kind of bad nerd fiction.
Oh yes, there is mucho BS being thrown around. I would probably be squarely pro-vax except for the uncertainty factor—we simply haven’t had a lot of time to see the effects of the new vaccines. I have family members who decided to get vaxed and I respect their decisions, but I’m in such a low risk category that I think I’m going to wait and see. One thing I wish we had more info about is “long covid” where people have lingering serious problems. It would be nice to know more about the nature of these incomplete recoveries and how often they’re happening.