Roll Up Your Sleeve for the Vaccine

By Andy Wheaton, PharmD, manager of pharmacy benefits at Network Health

Immune System 101

When germs, such as bacteria or viruses, enter your body, your immune system recognizes them as foreign invaders and begins creating proteins called antibodies. These antibodies help your body tag and destroy these germs. Antibodies assist with the germ fight when you’re first exposed and protect against future infections. If your body comes in contact with the same germ, even years later, your body uses antibodies to recognize and defend itself against future infection.

How Vaccines Work

Vaccines are extremely valuable because they offer a way for your body to begin producing antibodies without coming in direct contact with the germs that make you sick. A vaccine teaches your body to recognize a foreign invader, alarms your immune system to activate and instructs your fighter cells and proteins to go to work against the germ. Vaccines are made using the inactive, weakened or harmless parts of the germ so they prevent disease without making you sick.

Thanks to vaccines, diseases like polio, tetanus, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough (pertussis) and chickenpox are no longer a threat. That being said, you must continue to do your part by vaccinating against the old and the new germs that come your way. Getting vaccinated not only protects you, but protects those around you who are vulnerable to getting the disease. The coronavirus presents our newest challenge in fighting a virus and continues to impact the entire world.

Coronavirus Vaccine*

Coronavirus mRNA vaccines are designed to give your body’s cells instructions to make a harmless protein called the spike protein. This spike protein is found on the surface of the coronavirus. Once your body receives the coronavirus vaccine and creates this protein, your immune cells start to make antibodies to tag and destroy the virus.

Coronavirus Vaccine Facts and Myths

Myth 1 – The coronavirus vaccine is not safe because it was rapidly developed and tested.

The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) gene material was sequenced in early January 2020. This allowed the world’s best scientists to understand the importance of the spike protein and that developing antibodies against it might protect us from the disease.

The partnership with the federal government provided nearly unlimited resources and allowed companies to develop vaccines faster than they normally would. For the first time in history, instead of waiting for the first study phase to be completed before starting the second phase and so forth, phases overlapped one another. So, the full