Covid Vaccines? NHS? What’s Love Got To Do With It?

That’s why we’ve partnered up with the NHS! We want to clear up any misinformation out there and educate you about the vaccine, so that you can make your own informed choices on whether you want to take it or not.

What does this partnership involve?

As you may have read in the Guardian (front page!), the Independent or the BBC, many dating apps have chosen to add “vaccinated stickers” to their profiles to encourage the vaccine. We thought it would be more important to actually educate you on the vaccine and what it does, which is why we held an IG live with our favourite NHS doctor, Doctor Amir Khan.

Here’s what we learnt from the live:

1) Vaccine dates are in!

Dr Amir says that he can’t think of anything more romantic than going on a date to get vaccinated! I guess we know what you’ll all be doing when you meet your Muzz for the first time…

Ok now onto the real important things we learnt

2) The Covid vaccine Will NOT Change your DNA

There are a lot of rumours going around that suggest the vaccine works by changing your DNA. Dr Amir assures us that this is not true. The vaccines work by having some weakened form of the covid virus injected into our bodies- just a small part of it- Our immune systems will then build an immune response to this so that the next time we come across our virus, our bodies will know how to fight it before we can even get sick!

Your DNA is yours only. No one will change it.

3) There is plenty of research to show that the vaccine works, even though it was developed fast!

Dr Amir tells us that this vaccine was only developed so quickly as:

• All the paperworks and asking for permission- bits that take years normally- were cut out, and researchers were able to work on this vaccine directly
• Different countries all over the world were all effectively working on the same thing, which made the process much faster.

All the trials and testing have been done, and there is plenty of research that has been done to support that the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

4) There are side effects- but they’re pretty much harmless

Dr. Amir very honestly told us that there are side effects, but any medicine will have side effects. Vaccines have common side effects that aren’t so serious:

“When you get your vaccine, you’ll probably get a sore arm and some cold-like symptoms like a flu or headache for a week. Take some paracetamol, drink some fluid and rest- it’s the best thing you can do. It will pass, and once it passes you’ll have some great memory cells that will recognise the virus.”

5) The vaccine DOES NOT affect fertility in women

There were a lot of rumours spreading that the vaccine affects fertility, but Dr Amir assures us that they are 100% false! The vaccine won’t affect fertility in men or women, and in fact, if you’re currently pregnant it’s actually recommended that you get the vaccine when your age group is called to take it.

6) Taking the Vaccine doesn’t mean you’re now immune to covid

Infact, the purpose of the vaccine isn’t to make you immune, but to stop you from getting ill. Even after the vaccine, you could still get the virus, but your body will destroy and get rid of it before it can make you sick. This does man you could still spread it without knowing, so you should keep wearing masks and following the precautions.

7) If you’ve had covid already… you could still get it again

Yep, hate to break it to you, but having had covid doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get it again. Studies show that people can produce antibodies for the next 6 months… but studies also show that people that have had covid and get vaccinated have a much stronger immune system that lasts longer. What’s wrong with being extra protected? It’s great!

8) You can get back out there safely!

Good news for all of you looking to get back out there – you can easily. Here are some tips Dr Amir recommend on to ensure you stay safe:

• Keep 2m away (which we do anyways coz we’re always keeping it halal lol)
• Keep it outdoors- Covid is actually airborne, meaning it lingers in the air for horse and passes on when people breathe it in. So try to meet outdoors, but if you do meet indoors, make sure you open all windows and keep the space ventilated.
• If you’re meeting each other’s families for the first time, try to avoid hugging. We know it’s really hard, and it’s so tempting to hug, but it’s better to wait a bit.

We hope you’ve found this useful! If you have any extra questions about covid or the vaccine, do get in touch with your local doctor!

Disclaimer: All the questions answered here were from a UK doctor. Please do follow your countries guidelines and check with your own doctors too.