MACON, Ga. — Four Central Georgia healthcare leaders are asking the community to come together and protect one another and their staffs by getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
They're asking for your help in battling the fourth surge of the coronavirus.
First, they ask you to get vaccinated, second, mask up, and third, stop spreading rumors.
Central healthcare professionals spoke out Thursday.
They want people to get their COVID-19 vaccination and stop spreading and listening to vaccine misinformation.
"Education is one of the cornerstones of public health, and sharing facts with people can only help them with making an informed decision," Macon-Bibb County Health Department Administrator Doctor Jimmie Smith said.
Smith says rumors are a hurdle health professionals are fighting every day.
"We have seen cleverly made, flashy-looking things all across the internet, but contain zero truth," Smith said.
We asked the health-care leaders about some of the reasons that our viewers cited for not getting the shot.
So, is the vaccine going to track you?
Houston Healthcare President and CEO Charles Briscoe scoffed at the idea.
"If you think you're going to be tracked by the vaccine, how many of those people have a phone in their pocket? They're already tracked," Briscoe said.
But the vaccine isn't approved by the FDA, and is it experimental?
Atrium Health Navicent President and CEO Delvecchio Finley say's it's safe and effective.
"I think there is a lot of confusion about the rapid nature in which we were successfully able to get the vaccine, and the notion that it is under what is termed 'EUA.' The 'E' in EUA is 'emergency use authorization,' not 'experimental use authorization.' What I would say to people is this vaccine went through the same degree of clinical trials as all other vaccines we have had. We have just been able to do that in a much more expedited fashion," Finley said.
But what about reports that the vaccines can cause infertility?
CEO of Piedmont Macon and Piedmont Macon North Stephen Daugherty says it's not true.
"I think the literature is clear that there is no proof that it causes infertility in men or women. So, again, consult your physician and talk about your specific case," Daugherty said.
So, here are the truths about the vaccine.
"The vaccines cannot make you sick with COVID-19. The vaccines do not impact fertility in men or women. The vaccines will not change your DNA. Most importantly, the vaccines greatly reduce your risk, as my colleagues have said, of severe symptoms of COVID-19," Smith said.
A couple of other truths they shared are that COVID-19 vaccines are available free, and they say are our only way out of this deadly pandemic.
On Tuesday, the Atrium Navicent's Wellness Center on Northside Drive will have a pop-up vaccine clinic.