Vaccines and the fight against COVID-19

The human body is incredibly complex and resilient, but, we are only as healthy as our immune system is. No immunity = no protection = significantly increased risk of death.

Immunity is achieved when your body has built up enough memory cells to be able to release enough antibodies to counter a viral attack. Sometimes it takes repeated infections to build up the antibodies needed to fully protect you against a virus. This is why you can have two or three colds in one season and then none for a few years thereafter. Current evidence suggests that reinfection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the first 90 days after initial infection. However, experts don't know for sure how long this protection lasts, and the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 far outweighs any benefits of natural immunity. The COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you by creating an antibody (immune system) response without having to experience sickness. Plus, the vaccine and the administration is fully covered by the Scheme.

How vaccines work

Anti-viral vaccines (viral vector)

These vaccines contain virus-specific antigens, which is a much-weakened inactive form of the live virus or similar virus. The surface of the virus that causes COVID-19 is studded with proteins known as "spike proteins". The virus uses these spikes to enter human cells, infecting you with COVID-19. When you get a viral vector vaccine, the vector enters a cell in your body and then teaches the cell how to produce the COVID-19 spike protein. A while after you get your vaccine, your immune system recognises that the protein doesn't belong there and your body then begins building an immune response to fight off what it thinks is an infection. This immune response makes antibodies which then work to fight against a future COVID-19 infection. This means that although you may still get infected, your chances of being severely ill or dying are significantly reduced.

mRNA (messenger RNA) vaccines

These vaccines teach your body how to make a protein that will trigger an immune response, without using a live virus. mRNA COVID-19 vaccines contain the instructions your body needs to make the coronavirus spike protein. After the vaccine is given, your body makes antibodies that help fight the infection if the virus enters your body in the future, so that a COVID-19 infection will be milder than it otherwise would have been.

*These vaccines were measured against Laboratory trials, clinical trials, different variants and Real World studies.

Vaccines might require more than one dose

For some vaccines, the first dose does not provide as much immunity as possible and so more than one dose is needed to build a more complete immunity. Annual vaccinations (like the flu vaccine) might be needed as different variants or even strains might develop, like what we are currently observing with the coronavirus variants detected across the world.

As soon as more information becomes available about the roll-out of vaccines for our membership base, we will let you know. In the meantime, continue to wash and sanitise your hands, maintain a safe distance and always wear a mask when in public spaces.

To find out more about COVID-19 or vaccines please go to our Covid-19 hub on our website, where we will keep adding the most up-to-date information.