Almost all of us know the feeling of waiting in a chair and getting a needle stuck in our arm, and of course, the side effects of it over the next few days. No one really enjoys or looks forward to this experience, but a lot of people still choose to do it, as it generally helps our immune system and ability to protect others.

How Vaccination Works

The Immunity Community lists several reasons for vaccination, such as slowing down the spread of the disease, to build immunity in your community, and to strengthen your immune system. However, a lot of people don’t understand how this is done or simply don’t trust it. To put it simply, a vaccine injects antigens, a small part of the virus, into the body, which triggers your immune system to respond by attacking it, thinking it’s the full virus. Then, if you actually do get the infection, your immune system will be able to remember the antibodies it created and be able to fight off the virus more easily. Taking vaccines usually benefits you in the long run.

Reasons People Don’t Vaccinate

The BMC Public Health lists a few main reasons why some people have chosen not to vaccinate for Covid-19 by analyzing what people have said on social media. Some people think that the vaccine would not help them fight off Covid, and some believe that they didn’t have much risk of getting Covid in the first place, one user going as far as saying, “No one needs this vaccination, because once you have Corona you are immune.” This, however, is not true because without the vaccine your body wouldn’t be able to fight it off in the first place.

What Happens to Those Who Don’t Vaccinate

“It is heart-wrenching to see unvaccinated individuals come into the hospital with regret.” This is something that Dr. Ryan Dare, an infectious disease physician, said about his patients, who were mostly made up of unvaccinated individuals. He says that when most of them got sick with Covid and weren’t able to fight it off on their own, they came to the hospital with regret about their prior decision. Although vaccines may not completely stop the spread of certain viruses, they will make sure that you actually survive if you do get the infection.

Getting a vaccine is generally good for you and your community. However, there will always be misconceptions about things, even something as beneficial as vaccines. So just make sure that you can protect yourself and the people around you by getting vaccinated for anything you might be at risk of contracting. After all, getting very sick for a while is no fun. Wouldn’t you rather be vaccinated and have a lower chance of that happening?