Vaccine is an injection that helps your immune system learn to recognize and fight off diseases caused by germs, like tetanus, diphtheria, mumps, measles, rubella (varicella), pertussis (whooping cough) and polio. In order to be safe and effective, vaccines must undergo extensive laboratory testing before they are approved for use.
It takes years to find the right antigen for a vaccine, and even longer to develop a safe vaccine using that antigen. During this process, government, academic or industry researchers test vaccine candidates on cells and tissues and then in animals to see whether they provoke a strong enough immune response.
Once a vaccine is ready for human trials, thousands of volunteers are given different doses to make sure that the vaccine works well without having serious side effects. Scientists also add “adjuvants” to some vaccines, which are substances that help them work better. They can include a weakened form of the virus or bacterium itself, a peptide, or instructions (mRNA) for your body to produce its own antibodies. Other ingredients include preservatives and stabilizers, such as gelatin, that keep the active ingredient stable during manufacturing and storage.
As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Vaccines can prevent disease, hospitalization and death, especially for those too young or too old to be vaccinated, as well as people with weak immune systems. When enough healthy people in a community are vaccinated, they create “herd immunity,” which makes it harder for a disease to spread.
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