Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases, before they come into contact with them. It uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger.

Vaccines train your immune system to create antibodies, just as it does when it’s exposed to a disease. However, because vaccines contain only killed or weakened forms of germs like viruses or bacteria, they do not cause the disease or put you at risk of its complications.

Most vaccines are given by an injection, but some are given orally (by mouth) or sprayed into the nose.

Vaccination is a safe and effective way to prevent disease and save lives – now more than ever. Today there are vaccines available to protect against at least 20 diseases, such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza and measles. 

When we get vaccinated, we aren’t just protecting ourselves, but also those around us. Some people, like those who are seriously ill, are advised not to get certain vaccines – so they depend on the rest of us to get vaccinated and help reduce the spread of disease. 

Vaccines protect against many different diseases including:

• Cervical cancer
• Cholera
• COVID-19
• Diphtheria
• Hepatitis B
• Influenza
• Japanese encephalitis
• Measles
• Meningitis
• Mumps
• Pertussis
• Pneumonia
• Polio
• Rabies
• Rotavirus
• Rubella
• Tetanus
• Typhoid
• Varicella
• Yellow fever

Some other vaccines are currently under development or being piloted, including those that protect against Ebola or malaria, but are not yet widely available globally.