A new study from Northwestern University suggests vitamin D could play a role in fighting coronavirus. But local experts are shedding light on some serious doubts.

Since the study hit the web last week, it's been amplified by news outlets and well-meaning social media users as evidence that the sun can help you survive COVID-19.

Kathleen Suozzi is a dermatologist at Yale Medicine who says those claims come from an unpublished, non-peer-reviewed study from Northwestern University.

She says the patients involved in the study weren't tested for vitamin D, and the results are based on national average data.

Suozzi says that leaves a lot of room for uncertainty, especially when sun exposure poses risks of its own.

"As a skin cancer surgeon, I don't want to see patients going outside and baking out in the sun at the beach, in the false hope that increasing their vitamin D levels will lead to COVID protection or mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 disease. So right now we have no evidence of that," said Suozzi.

Suozzi says there's nothing wrong with taking a walk outside and getting a little fresh air and sunshine, but people should not expect it to cure everything that ails you.

Suozzi says Vitamin D is believed to play a role in our immune systems, but the link isn't fully understood yet.