A recent Nature study found that cancer patients who received mRNA COVID-19 vaccines before beginning immunotherapy lived nearly twice as long as unvaccinated patients undergoing the same treatment. Researchers suggested that the vaccines may help strengthen immune responses that help the body target certain cancer cells. Online reactions were mixed—some emphasized the potential benefits of vaccination while others dismissed the findings or promoted the myth that COVID-19 vaccines have caused an increase in cancer cases. Several posts also called for more funding for mRNA technology.
Recommendation
Discussions connecting COVID-19 vaccination and cancer outcomes offer an opportunity to highlight new evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccination may be linked to longer survival in some cancer patients. Messaging may explain that vaccines work by priming the immune system to recognize and fight infection, which may in turn also enhance the body’s ability to fight cancer. Communicators may add that over five years of research and global safety monitoring show that COVID-19 vaccines are not linked to cancer.
Fact-checking sources: Snopes, Science Feedback
Communication resources: Find more talking points about COVID-19
