Dose Of Truth: Is The Vaccine Being Used For Sterilization Purposes?

There’s a lot of false information around about the two leading COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. We wanted to provide the facts and answer some questions. 

I’m not a doctor but know a few, so we asked: Is the vaccine being used for sterilization purposes? 

“The vaccine is made up of mRNA from the virus specifically targeting a molecule in it to help prevent further propagation and uptake by the body. It is purely to kill this one virus," explained Dr. Josh Lesko, Brief19 lead policy analyst. 

"I want to acknowledge that, especially in Black and brown communities, there is a documented history of atrocious measures that have happened in science and in medicine, including things like the Tuskegee experiments, that mean that people believe that this could be possible. However, that is not the case here, and the work of people like myself, people who are in those communities and want to make sure that the science is being upheld, but specifically that it is being upheld for communities that have often been left behind or mistreated,” said Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, an infectious diseases physician with Washington University School of Medicine.