From the beginning of the pandemic, scientists and pharmaceutical companies worked hard to develop effective vaccines to prevent infection in individuals and slow down the transmission of the virus throughout society.
Now that the vaccines are here, however, not everyone who’s eligible for a vaccination has received one.
Kimberly Bolling, MD, understands that you may feel confused or wary about COVID-19 vaccines. However, she also wants you, your loved ones, and your community to be safe. Although she doesn’t provide COVID-19 vaccines at her Bowie, Maryland, office, she encourages everyone to get one as soon as possible.
You can locate a vaccination center near you with this location tool. You can also book your appointment online here. This is why it’s important to get your vaccination now.
You don’t have to worry about how to pay for a COVID-19 vaccine. They’re free because they’re considered essential to keeping both individuals and entire communities safe from a potentially life-threatening infection with the novel coronavirus.
You may worry that pharmaceutical companies rushed to produce vaccines that are effective against COVID-19, and that it’s not possible to know for sure that the vaccines are safe.
However, all of the COVID-19 vaccines are based on the same science and technologies that we’ve used for decades to produce safe and effective vaccines against other viruses.
In addition, all of the COVID-19 vaccines that are currently available were rigorously tested in clinical trials for safety. Our health agencies also monitor reactions to the vaccines, to be sure any side effects are minimal.
Your body is an amazing system that identifies and attacks pathogens that threaten it. The COVID-19 vaccine works by harnessing the powers of your own immune response.
If you’re not vaccinated and you become infected with the novel coronavirus through exposure to somebody else who has it, your immune system could be overwhelmed by trying to fight off a pathogen it’s never seen before.
The various types of COVID-19 vaccines, however, teach your body how to fight the virus before you’re infected.
Each type of vaccine uses a slightly different type of approach to train your immune system to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19.
The Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines give your body a synthetic form of a messenger RNA (mRNA) that’s part of your natural immune response. The engineered mRNA teaches your body to recognize and replicate a protein that’s unique to the virus that causes COVID-19. Your immune system then builds antibodies to destroy that protein.
If you’re exposed to the COVID-19 virus, your body already knows how to combat it, and does so before the virus can invade your cells. Decades of research went into the creation of mRNA vaccines.
The Janssen/Johnson & Johnson and the AstraZeneca vaccines take a tiny piece of S protein from the COVID-19 virus and place it into a different, harmless virus. When you get vaccinated, your immune system recognizes and makes a copy of that S protein.
When you make a copy of the foreign S protein, your body builds antibodies to it. Your body then remembers how to fight that COVID-19 virus if you’re ever exposed to it later.
Novovax is developing a protein subunit vaccine that contains harmless pieces of the S proteins in the novel coronavirus. After your vaccination, your body recognizes that protein as foreign and builds antibodies against it, so you can destroy it if you’re ever exposed to the virus.
Most people experience few to no side effects after the vaccine. The most common side effects are usually related to your body’s immune response, such as fatigue.
It’s normal to feel tired for a day or two after a vaccine, because your body is working hard to fight the proteins associated with the virus and build an immunity to it. Your body continues to strengthen its response to the virus over the next few weeks. That’s why you’re not fully protected until about 2-3 weeks after your final vaccine.
In contrast, getting sick with COVID-19 can be dire. Even mild cases can lead to weeks of feeling under the weather. Complications of COVID-19 might include breathlessness, hospitalization, and even death.
No vaccine can 100% prevent all disease all the time. However, a vaccination primes your immune system so you can better fight off a pathogen when you’re exposed to it.
The COVID-19 vaccine keeps you and your family safer if you’re exposed to an unvaccinated person who’s infected with the Delta or other variant of COVID-19.
Even if you or your loved ones experience a “breakthrough infection,” meaning that you contract COVID-19 after you’ve received the vaccine, your symptoms will be far less severe than if you’d never been vaccinated. The vaccine makes your immune system stronger.
As more and more people get vaccinated and teach their bodies to fight the virus that causes COVID-19, the less chance the virus has of infecting anyone. When you get vaccinated, you keep yourself and your loved ones safe. But you also keep everyone else safe too.
You can locate a vaccination center near you with this location tool. You can also book your appointment online here. You can also check out our site for more information about the COVID-19 vaccines.
If you need to see Dr. Bolling, call our Bowie, Maryland, office today at 301-352-0090. You can also request an appointment online or send a message to Dr. Bolling and the team here on our website.
