Top Ten Facts About COVID-19 Vaccines To Share with Your Family and Friends

Vaccines are one of the safest and most effective ways we can reduce our risk of suffering from deadly diseases that can make us sick, send us to the hospital, or worse.

All vaccines work by teaching our immune system to recognize a pathogen – a disease-causing organism. In the case of COVID-19 vaccines, this pathogen is the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Then, whenever we are exposed to the virus, our immune system will be ready to leap into action, fight off the virus, and keep us healthy.

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine helps protects the person who is vaccinated AND helps protect the whole community. The more people who are vaccinated, the lower the risk of catching the disease. As COVID-19 vaccination rates have increased, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths due to COVID-19 have decreased dramatically in every country that has achieved high vaccination rates.

When enough people in a population are immune that the virus can no longer cause outbreaks, we say that the community is protected via herd immunity, or community immunity.

Herd immunity, or community immunity, is important because it helps protect those members of a community who may be unable to be vaccinated or who may not produce a strong immune response after vaccination, due to a specific medical condition, for example.

 It is critical that everyone get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible. It is also urgent that everyone across the globe has access to COVID-19 vaccines to protect themselves and their communities. COVID-19 vaccines have already saved lives; ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines are available globally has the potential to save millions more.

Learn more about how vaccines are rigorously tested to ensure they are safe and effective.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus causes COVID-19 disease. When a vaccinated person comes into contact with SARS-CoV-2, their immune system (the body’s defences) responds by attacking the virus and preventing it from making them sick.

There are many different ways to design safe and effective vaccines. Many COVID-19 vaccines contain instructions that teach our immune system how to make and recognize one small piece of the virus, typically the spike protein. After vaccination, our immune system responds by producing antibodies that can recognize the spike protein. In the future, if we are exposed to the virus, the antibodies we developed after vaccination will recognize this virus and stop it from spreading!

COVID-19 vaccines allow us to develop the immunity that will protect us from the SARS-CoV-2 virus without getting sick.  COVID-19 vaccines do not cause COVID-19 disease, regardless of the type of vaccine.

Just as there are many different makes and models of cars, there are many different types of COVID-19 vaccines. All COVID-19 vaccines are designed to prevent us from getting COVID-19.

It is interesting to learn more about the technologies being used to develop COVID-19 vaccines, including how each vaccine works to strengthen the immune response so it can keep us healthy.

• DNA- or RNA-based vaccines contain the instructions needed to make a small piece of the virus and then the immune system learns to recognize that piece
• Protein subunit vaccines contain a small piece of the virus (protein) and then the immune system learns to recognize that piece
• Non-Replicating viral vector vaccines deliver the instructions needed to make a small piece of the virus and then the immune system learns to recognize that piece

Check out the different types of COVID-19 vaccines that have already been approved.

Vaccines are some of the safest and most rigorously tested tools we have to protect ourselves from infectious diseases.

As with any medical intervention, side effects can occur after getting a vaccine. The most common side effects after COVID-19 vaccination are mild and typically last 1-3 days, and include tiredness, redness or pain at the injection site, or a mild fever. Some people experience many side effects and some people don't experience any side effects at all. Common side effects can vary depending on the vaccine. Serious side effects are extremely rare.

It is important to remember that the benefits of getting vaccinated and protecting yourself and others against COVID-19 are far greater than the risk of experiencing side effects.

Ask your healthcare provider about the benefits and risks of COVID-19 vaccines if you have questions and would like to learn more about the vaccines available in your area.

Retrieved from: https://www.paho.org/en/documents/typical-side-effects-covid-19-vaccine-are

Make plans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are eligible and as soon as vaccines are available in your area. Be sure to receive the required number of doses so that you are fully vaccinated.

As noted, COVID-19 vaccines are saving lives. Getting vaccinated as soon as you are eligible will (1) reduce your risk of getting COVID-19, (2) help protect those who cannot be vaccinated, and (3) decrease opportunities for new variants to emerge.

While vaccines are the most effective way to prevent cases, hospitalizations, and deaths due to COVID-19, it is important to continue to follow all public health guidelines even after getting vaccinated since no method is 100% protective.

Contact your local health authority to find out if you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in your area.

Visit the trials and approved vaccines by country page to learn more about which vaccines have been approved for use in each country.

To reduce your risk of COVID-19, get the first COVID-19 vaccine available to you and make plans to get it as soon as you are eligible. The sooner you are vaccinated, the more likely you are to stay healthy.

To reduce the number of cases, to prevent hospitalizations, to save lives, and to prevent opportunities for new variants to emerge, it is important that everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated do so as soon as possible.

The best COVID-19 vaccine you can get is the one that is first available to you, so that you can reduce your risk as soon as possible.

But which COVID-19 vaccine is the best? Directly comparing different COVID-19 vaccines is very difficult because they have been tested in separate clinical trials that were conducted in different settings, among people from different age groups, when different variants were circulating, and where other factors varied. If the COVID-19 vaccine you are offered is safe and effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and deaths, now is the time to get vaccinated.

Contact your local health authority to find out if you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in your area.

Visit the trials and approved vaccines by country page to learn more about which vaccines have been approved for use in each country.

The evidence is clear: COVID-19 vaccines are the best way to prevent COVID-19. But no method is 100% effective all of the time.

Until everyone can be vaccinated, be sure to continue to follow all public health guidelines and take steps to protect yourself and others. Isolating yourself if you have any symptoms, wearing a mask, spending time outdoors rather than indoors, avoiding crowded places, and maintaining good hand hygiene can all help reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

The risk of getting COVID-19 is much higher for people who are unvaccinated than for those who are vaccinated. Globally, the vast majority of cases are occurring among unvaccinated people. However, while COVID-19 vaccines are our best bet at preventing infection, they are not 100% effective. And so, although it is extremely unlikely, it is possible to get infected even after being vaccinated. How can this be? This can happen if a person is only partially vaccinated, if there has not been enough time for the immune system to respond to the vaccine (typically 2 weeks), if a person's immune system does not respond well enough to the vaccine or, if cases are high, some people may be exposed to the virus repeatedly, thereby increasing their risk of infection.

Fortunately, evidence has shown that vaccination reduces the risk of severe disease. In the rare case that a person gets infected after being fully vaccinated, they are very likely to experience much milder symptoms than if they had remained unvaccinated. COVID-19 vaccines are remarkably effective at decreasing the risk of experiencing moderate to severe COVID-19 disease, including hospitalization and death due to COVID-19.

During clinical trials, each vaccine candidate is rigorously tested. Based on that evidence, health authorities will recommend how many doses are needed and the appropriate timing between doses.

Some vaccines require more than one dose to train the immune system. The first dose primes the immune system, while subsequent doses induce a more robust immune response.

Depending on the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, multiple doses may be required, which may be given weeks or months apart. It is important to get all recommended vaccine doses.

Follow your local health authority guidelines for information on the recommended number and timing of vaccine doses.

It is not yet known how long protective immunity lasts after SARS-CoV-2 infection and the degree and duration of protection may vary from person to person. Evidence has shown that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and effective even among those who already had COVID-19. Think of COVID-19 as a booster! To boost your immunity after getting COVID-19, you should still get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Follow your local health authority guidelines for vaccination among those who have had COVID-19. Recommendations may include waiting a certain period of time between when you recover from COVID-19 and when you are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination.

Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that most COVID-19 vaccines elicit a strong enough immune response to be effective against currently circulating variants. In particular, most COVID-19 vaccines are effective at significantly reducing the risk of severe health outcomes such as hospitalization and death. Ongoing studies continue to evaluate the evidence to determine how well COVID-19 vaccines protect against various SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The more people who become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the more opportunities there are for new variants to emerge. Therefore, getting vaccinated as soon as you are eligible is the best way to protect yourself from COVID-19 and to reduce the risk of variants.

To learn more about which vaccines are being tested and have been approved in each country, visit the trials and approved vaccines by country page.