WEBVTT

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TRANQUIL MUSIC

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VOICE-OVER:
Does the vaccine have coronavirus in it?

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CÉCILE VAN ELS: There is no
live coronavirus in the vaccines.

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What vaccines do is teach your body
what the coronavirus looks like.

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Most vaccines do that by revealing a small
fragment of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

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a characteristic piece of the exterior:
the spike protein.

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Your immune system
can learn to recognise it

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and develop an immune response
to defend against it,

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so you will be protected if you later
come into contact with the actual virus.

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There are also vaccines
that do use viruses.

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They show your body
more of the coronavirus,

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but only contain
inactivated, or dead, virus.

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That means you cannot be infected
by the vaccine,

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and you also cannot infect other people
as a result of the vaccine.

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THE TRANQUIL MUSIC
CONTINUES

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VOICE-OVER:
Does the vaccine affect fertility?

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CÉCILE VAN ELS:
That idea was based on the theory

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that there was supposedly
a substance in the vaccines

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which is produced naturally
by the human body

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and is important
in pregnancy,

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both to become pregnant
and to help the baby grow.

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A specific hormone.

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But that hormone is not
in the vaccines.

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So, there is no reason
to assume

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that our bodies would produce
an autoimmune response

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and become infertile
as a result.

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THE TRANQUIL MUSIC
CONTINUES

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VOICE-OVER: Will I pass the vaccine on
to my child during breastfeeding?

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CÉCILE VAN ELS:
If you get vaccinated

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during the period when
you are breastfeeding your child,

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you will not vaccinate
your child.

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No vaccine ends up
in your breast milk.

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THE TRANQUIL MUSIC
CONTINUES

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VOICE-OVER: Does the COVID-19 vaccine
affect your own DNA?

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CÉCILE VAN ELS: This question is mainly
asked in respect of RNA and DNA vaccines,

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since those words evoke
that association to some extent.

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But that's not
what they do.

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What they do is give your body
a blueprint

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for building fragments
of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

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Once those fragments have been built,
your immune system can look at them

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and develop an immune response
to defend against them.

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And then that blueprint
is cleared away again.

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It's the same thing that happens
when you catch a cold

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and you use those blueprints
to fight off a cold virus.

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So, no. Your own DNA is not affected
by the vaccines.

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THE TRANQUIL MUSIC
CONTINUES

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VOICE-OVER: Weren't the vaccines
developed too quickly?

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And does that
make them unsafe?

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CÉCILE VAN ELS: They were developed
very quickly, within a single year.

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That has never
happened before.

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So, you may be wondering:
how is that possible?

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Vaccines are developed by going through
a predefined number of steps.

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Vaccines must be researched,
and scientific proof must be compiled

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about whether the vaccines are safe
and if they are effective.

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There is no way
around that.

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But there are four things
that made it possible

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to complete those steps
within a year.

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And that is really incredible,
the biggest surprise of 2020.

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But it was a success.
So, what were those four things?

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Firstly, all of the knowledge
and expertise we already had,

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for example on previous outbreaks
of SARS and MERS,

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was used to devise and develop vaccines
as quickly as possible.

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Secondly, very clear agreements were made
with the evaluating authorities

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about exactly what those vaccines
had to be capable of.

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And those evaluating authorities
used 'rolling reviews',

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monitoring researchers' work,
which saved time.

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Thirdly, all phases of the research
and clinical trials that had to be completed

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were scheduled very quickly
and efficiently, in sequence.

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That rapid sequencing
would not normally happen,

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but it did now.
That also saved a lot of time.

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And fourthly, an absolutely massive
amount of money was raised

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by governments, international agencies
and philanthropists

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to make all of this possible
and to start producing vaccines

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even before we were sure
if they would even work.

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All in all, this ensured
that we were able

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to achieve the first COVID-19 vaccines
within a year,

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without compromising
their safety or efficacy.

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THE TRANQUIL MUSIC
CONTINUES

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VOICE-OVER: Is it true that
vaccines can give you autism?

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CÉCILE VAN ELS: No. The fable
that vaccines could cause autism

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was launched about 20 years ago
by the British physician Andrew Wakefield.

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He published an article asserting that
in a reputable medical journal.

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When other doctors reviewed the article,
they found that it was not based on facts,

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and that the data used to support
the article was simply incorrect.

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So, the journal
retracted the article,

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and the British doctor was even barred
from practising medicine in the UK.

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THE TRANQUIL MUSIC
FADES AWAY