Does messenger RNA vaccine technology have catastrophic side effects, including death?

Millions of people have gotten COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations and have not suffered catastrophic side effects. The mRNA vaccination has not been causally linked to any deaths, according to the CDC.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines work by teaching cells how to make a protein that triggers an immune response. That response produces antibodies that, in turn, protect from the real virus. When the body is responding to the vaccine, a person may experience some side effects, such as fever, headache and chills. That's normal. Serious side effects can happen but they are rare.

Researchers have been working with mRNA vaccines for decades. They've been studied before for flu, Zika, rabies, and cytomegalovirus (CMV).

There is nothing to substantiate a claim that mRNA vaccines, which were tested and held to the same safety standards as other vaccines, are unsafe.