The principles of vaccination

How do our bodies fight infection? And how do vaccines help?

Vaccines are one of the greatest achievements in medicine and are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases. They can help protect us from diseases for which medication is not available. They have saved millions of lives all over the world, and continue to do so.

Crude vaccinations have been reported as far back as the 1500s in China, for protection against small pox. The first laboratory vaccine was produced by Louis Pasteur in 1879, for chicken cholera. There is understandably a lot of discussion about vaccines at the moment, so watch this video to get your facts straight and help spread the word!

How do the coronavirus vaccines work?

The new vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca are gene-based vaccines, which means instead of using part of a virus or an inactivated virus they use part of the instructions to make certain virus proteins.

For these vaccines, the instructions used are in the form of messenger RNA (mRNA) for making the coronavirus spike protein. The mRNA instructions are delivered to our cells in different ways. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
transports the mRNA in a less harmful virus—a common cold-causing adenovirus—that is engineered so it can’t replicate in the host. The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines wrap the mRNA in oily bubbles made
of lipid nanoparticles.

For more details on mRNA vaccines, you can watch this helpful video:

What is herd immunity, and how do vaccines help?

We’ve probably al heard of “herd immunity,” but what exactly does it mean?

This video explains how and why getting vaccinated helps to save lives—even if you yourself are fit, healthy, and not too concerned about COVID-19!

How has this vaccine been developed so fast?

The new coronavirus vaccines are the fastest ever to be developed; but how was this possible? Well, there was a massive incentive to find one quickly because coping with the virus is so disruptive to everyday life. Governments,
companies and academic institutions have invested huge resources and prioritised research into the vaccines to help speed up the process, whilst ensuring that every safety check was met.

This video explains a little more…