Helping Others

When you receive a vaccine, you aren’t only protecting yourself from infectious diseases, but you’re also helping to protect everyone around you. The more people who are vaccinated within a community, the less easily a disease can spread. Here’s a look at how vaccines work to help protect and strengthen the health of communities.

Vaccines support community immunity

Disease-causing germs, or pathogens, can spread quickly within communities. But if enough people are vaccinated against a certain disease, these germs can’t travel as easily from person to person and the entire community is at less risk of getting sick.

How community immunity works

Vaccines train your immune system to recognize and fight back against certain viruses. In some cases, this may mean you don’t get sick at all if your body encounters that virus. In other cases, it may mean you get a milder version of the illness. Either way, a vaccine can help make you less likely to infect others. The more people who are vaccinated within a community, the more difficult it is for a virus to spread.

Protection for those who can’t get vaccinated

Community immunity helps protect everyone, but it’s especially important for people who don’t have strong immune response from vaccines or who have health issues that prevent them from being able to get vaccinated. When you get vaccinated, you help protect those who can’t get vaccinated, like newborns, people with some chronic medical conditions, or elderly people with weakened immune systems.

Vaccines promote healthier and more productive communities

High vaccination rates help protect everyone from dangerous diseases, meaning more people can work, attend social events, and spend time with their families. When more people are able to engage with each other, the whole community benefits, from those who own small businesses to those who rely on caretakers and everyone in between.

Vaccines help protect the vulnerable around you and help keep communities healthy and strong. Getting vaccinated is not only one of the best ways to protect your own health, but it’s one of the kindest things you can do for others.

Learn more at wedovaccines.com