COVID-19, Vaccine
Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine as per WHO and CDC
Wondering whether getting vaccinated with COVID-19 Vaccines is going to be beneficial for you or not? Here is all you need to know.
Overview
Vaccination is the most effective way to protect against infectious diseases.
Vaccines strengthen your immune system by training it to recognise and fight against specific viruses.
When you get vaccinated, you are protecting yourself and helping to protect the whole community.
Benefits of COVID-19 Vaccines
Below is a summary of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination as per CDC and WHO
COVID-19 vaccination will help keep you from getting COVID-19
- All COVID-19 vaccines currently available have been shown to be highly effective at preventing COVID-19.
- All COVID-19 vaccines that are in development are being carefully evaluated in clinical trials and will be authorized or approved only if they make it substantially less likely you’ll get COVID-19.
- Based on what is known about vaccines for other diseases and early data from clinical trials, experts believe that getting a COVID-19 vaccine may also help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19.
- Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
- Experts continue to conduct more studies about the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on severity of illness from COVID-19, as well as its ability to keep people from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccination is a safer way to help build protection
- COVID-19 can have serious, life-threatening complications, and there is no way to know how COVID-19 will affect you. And if you get sick, you could spread the disease to friends, family, and others around you.
- Clinical trials of all vaccines must first show they are safe and effective before any vaccine can be authorized or approved for use, including COVID-19 vaccines. The known and potential benefits of a COVID-19 vaccine must outweigh the known and potential risks of the vaccine for use under what is known as an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA).
- Getting COVID-19 may offer some natural protection, known as immunity. Current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection. However, experts don’t know for sure how long this protection lasts, and the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 far outweighs any benefits of natural immunity. COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you by creating an antibody (immune system) response without having to experience sickness.
- Both natural immunity and immunity produced by a vaccine are important parts of COVID-19 disease that experts are trying to learn more about.
COVID-19 vaccination will be an important tool to help stop the pandemic
- Wearing masks and social distancing help reduce your chance of being exposed to the virus or spreading it to others, but these measures are not enough. Vaccines will work with your immune system so it will be ready to fight the virus if you are exposed.
- The combination of getting vaccinated and following healthcare guidelines to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from COVID-19.
- Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available. As experts learn more about how COVID-19 vaccination may help reduce spread of the disease in communities, we must play our role by following the guidelines provided by the local authorities and healthcare providers.
Frequently Asked Question (FAQ)
If I get a coronavirus vaccination, do I still have to wear a mask? Physical distance?
Yes. It may take time for everyone who wants a COVID-19 vaccination to get one. A vaccine that is 95% effective means that about 1 out of 20 people who get it may not have protection from getting the illness.
Also, while the vaccine may prevent you from getting sick, it is unknown at this time if you can still carry and transmit the virus to others. That is why, until more is understood about how well the vaccine works, continuing with precautions such as mask-wearing and physical distancing will be important.
Reference
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html
- https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)-vaccines
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know