How do vaccines work?

To understand how a vaccine works, it’s helpful to know how your body protects you from diseases.

In order for your body to protect you from a disease, it has to first recognize the disease as something that needs to be removed from your body. Once it recognizes the disease, your body starts to learn how to fight it.

A vaccine shows your body what the disease looks like. When you get vaccinated, you teach your body to recognize the disease. Your body also learns how to fight that disease. This is what protects you from that illness.

Some vaccines require multiple doses to teach your body how to fight a disease. Other vaccines require booster shots. Booster shots are reminders for your body. They make sure that your body still remembers how to fight a disease.

Vaccine Safety

It is normal to be concerned about the safety of vaccines.

Like other medications, vaccines are studied to make sure that they are safe before public use. Also, once a vaccine is approved for public use, it is still monitored to make sure that it continues to be safe.

You can rest easy knowing that all vaccines have been tested for safety before use. Plus, most vaccines have been in use for decades, and are still safe.

It is possible to be allergic to an ingredient in a vaccine. This is why your healthcare provider asks you to tell them if you have an allergy. An allergy does not mean that a vaccine is not safe. It means that your body is allergic to one of the ingredients in the vaccine. This is another reason why it is important to get vaccinated if you can. It protects you, and because you’re protected, you cannot pass the disease on to members of your community who cannot get vaccinated.

Click here for more information about vaccine safety.

Alternative Treatments

While there are holistic treatments that can support your body when you are sick, alternative treatments do not protect you from diseases. Vaccines are designed to safely teach your body how to fight a disease.