HOW DOES THE VACCINE WORK?

VACCINES are the best way to protect people from coronavirus and will save tens of thousands of lives.

As more people are vaccinated, more people will be protected from the harmful effects of Covid-19.

Vaccines work by tricking your body into thinking it has to fight the virus. They train your immune system for this fight by stimulating you to create antibodies and T-cells.

This means that when Covid-19 is encountered naturally, the body has already been prepared to protect against it.

However, like any training, getting up to ‘match fitness’ takes time. Your body’s response, the immune response, is only trained up around two or three weeks after you have your first jab.

You do not have the full protection from the first dose in this period. If you are older, it’s better to allow at least three weeks.

Even better and longer lasting protection then comes from the second dose, so it is really important that everyone gets the second jab.

Again, the protective effect from that jab will come weeks after it is given.

For more information on vaccination, please visit gov.uk/coronavirus