The purpose or goal of vaccination is creating immunity. The Immune system helps to protect the body against infection. It identifies germs such as bacteria and viruses and removes them from the body.
There are many different types of vaccines that protect against many different types of infection. A vaccine stimulates the immune system to make antibodies and lymphocytes, which are the body’s main defence against infection, without the risk of illness or death.
Lymphocytes are very important and have a number of different jobs. They help the immune system identify germs such as bacteria and viruses and also stimulate the creation of antibodies. Once they have found a germ that should not be in the body they create ‘ memory’ cells. These memory cells can live for a very long time, sometimes forever. Memory cells let the immune system recognize germs it has seen before so if the germ ever enters the body again it can be destroyed before causing any harm.
Not all memory cells can live forever. This is why we need to have booster shots. Booster shots remind the immune system how to fight against the germs.
