A small amount of the disease pathogen is introduced to your body. It is thought that your body then learns how to recognise the disease, and is therefore primed to overcome the infection itself when/if it is encountered.
It is claimed that the pathogen in vaccines is rendered harmless by, for example:
- killing the pathogen;
- making the pathogen unable to grow or divide (attenuated vaccine); or
- using fragments of pathogens, which include the necessary antigens (rather than whole cells).
Source: Edexcel Biology
[Note: mRNA vaccines work differently from traditional vaccines. Learn more here.]
We are told that:
- It's much safer for your immune system to learn through vaccination than by catching the diseases and receiving treatment.
- Once your immune system knows how to fight a disease, it can often give you life-long protection.
The NHS highlights the benefits not only for the individual, but for society at large:
‘Having a vaccine also benefits your whole community through "herd immunity".
If enough people are vaccinated, it's harder for the disease to spread to those people who cannot have vaccines. For example, people who are ill or have a weakened immune system.’
Source: NHS
