COVID-19 MythBusters

COVID-19 Resource Center / COVID-19 MythBusters

Can you tell fact from fiction?

It can be challenging to know how to stay healthy and avoid serious illness from COVID-19 because there are so many rumors, opinions, stories, official and unofficial announcements in circulation. Explore our MythBusters to learn the truth.

Myth:

COVID-19 is over.

Fact:

False.

While cases have declined significantly, COVID-19 still exists worldwide. Researchers are continuing to analyze and track the virus in wastewater to predict surges around the country.

For information about cases in your community, check the local CDC COVID Data Tracker.

To view percent changes in cases around the world, check the global CDC COVID Data Tracker.

Myth:

10%-30% of people who were infected with COVID-19 suffer from long-haul COVID.

Fact:

True.

Up to 30% of those who tested positive for COVID-19 are experiencing long COVID (also known as long-haul COVID), meaning new, returning, or ongoing health problems more than four weeks after first being infected. Even people who were asymptomatic with COVID-19 may become “long-haulers.” The effects of long-haul COVID can include respiratory, cardiac, and digestive symptoms as well as fatigue, anxiety, depression, insomnia, brain fog, loss of taste and smell, and more. Children can also become long-haulers. As of July 2021, long COVID can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At Stanford Health Care, a multispecialty team of physician-researchers partner with long-haul patients to manage their symptoms.

Learn more at our Post Acute COVID-19 Syndrome Clinic.

Learn more about post-COVID conditions from the CDC

Myth:

My best protection against COVID-19 is vaccination + booster + masking.

Fact:

True.

Stay up to date on all your vaccinations and boosters. Also, if you are at high risk, it is recommended to wear a mask when you are indoors with people from outside your household.

Schedule your vaccines and boosters at Stanford Health Care.

Myth:

I tested negative for COVID-19, so I don’t have it and am not contagious.

Fact:

It depends.

The polymerase chain reaction PCR test is the gold standard of COVID-19 diagnosis. If you received negative results on a PCR test and have no symptoms, there is a high probability that you don’t have COVID-19 and can’t spread it to anyone else. Rapid antigen tests can be unreliable and may require further testing. Always discuss any positive test result with your medical provider.

Visit the CDC’s What You Need to Know about Testing page to learn more.

Make an appointment for a PCR test at MyHealth.

Schedule your vaccines and boosters at Stanford Health Care.

Myth:

I can only get COVID once.

Fact:

False.

Reinfections do occur. Being fully vaccinated and boosted can protect you from severe infection and hospitalization and lower your risk of catching it again. But the virus can break through your vaccine protection and give you a “breakthrough” infection even if you’ve had COVID-19 before. You can be infected with new variants after you were sick with a different strain of COVID-19. Wearing a mask is still recommended in many settings to prevent reinfection, especially if you are at high risk.

Learn more about protecting yourself and others from reinfection by wearing a mask.

Myth:

You can make someone else sick with COVID-19 even if you don’t have symptoms.

Fact:

True.

You can have COVID-19 without knowing it. You can spread the virus to others even if you have no symptoms. Be aware that people who catch the virus from you are at risk of serious illness. If you think you might have been exposed to COVID-19, even if you feel well, take a COVID-19 test and wear a mask until you get a negative test result to avoid infecting others. You can also become a COVID long-hauler after you’ve recovered, even if you were asymptomatic the first time.

Myth:

I’ve had COVID-19, so I don’t need to get vaccinated or boosted.

Fact:

False.

A case of COVID-19 does not make you immune to further infections with variants of the virus. Get all your recommended vaccinations and boosters to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.

Learn more about vaccines and boosters on the CDC website.

Myth:

I know many people who had COVID-19, and it wasn’t serious. So, I don’t need to protect myself or worry about catching a serious case.

Fact:

False.

It is important not to downplay the risks of COVID-19. You don’t know how the virus or its variants will affect you. A case of COVID-19 could cause you or someone you care about to be admitted to the hospital. COVID-19 can be fatal.

Source:

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e4.htm?s_cid=mm7104e4_w

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20220127/deaths-due-to-omicron-higher-than-from-delta

Myth:

I’m fully vaccinated and had a booster, but I can still get COVID-19.

Fact:

True.

You can get a breakthrough infection. However, if you are vaccinated, boosted, and masked appropriately, you are providing yourself with the most effective protection against hospitalization and serious complications of COVID-19.

Myth:

Only older and unhealthy people need to worry about COVID-19.

Fact:

False.

Anyone can get COVID-19, and anyone can become seriously ill. There are people who have an increased risk of severe illness, such as those with underlying medical conditions and pregnant women, but everyone is susceptible. Staying up to date on your vaccinations and booster shots lower your chance of infection and severe illness.

See the latest data on those with an increased risk for severe illness with COVID-19 on the CDC website

Learn where to get vaccinated at Stanford Health Care.

Myth:

I’m healthy so I don’t need to get vaccinated. My natural immunities will fight off a COVID-19 infection.

Fact:

False.

Even healthy unvaccinated individuals have a high risk of COVID-19 illness. Unvaccinated people have the highest risk for hospitalization and death.

Schedule your vaccines and boosters at Stanford Health Care.

Myth:

I can’t catch COVID-19 outside.

Fact:

False.

Outdoors is a safer setting than indoors, but you can still catch COVID-19 outside. In general, people do not need to wear masks outdoors. But if you are at high risk for severe illness, you might choose to wear a mask outside.

Myth:

I should get the booster shot from the same company that made my vaccine. For example, if I got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, I should get the Johnson & Johnson booster.

Fact:

False.

The CDC recommends the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna (COVID-19 mRNA) vaccines. Then, you can mix and match vaccines and boosters between these manufacturers. If you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, it is recommended that you get the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna booster for further protection.

Learn more about which booster shot to get on the CDC website.

Myth:

The dangerous part of the pandemic is over.

Fact:

It depends.

People in the Bay Area have a high vaccination rate. But because many people around the country and the world remain unvaccinated, variants of the virus resistant to existing vaccines can continue to form. Each variant is a new threat to our health because it can travel to the Bay Area and infect us. Wearing a mask indoors in the company of folks outside your close circle and staying up to date on your vaccinations and boosters is still important for your protection.

Visit the CDC’s Understanding Variants page to learn more about the constantly changing virus. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/understanding-variants.html

Schedule your vaccines and boosters at Stanford Health Care.