The vaccine is one of the effective ways of protecting people against harmful diseases. It uses our body's natural defences to build resistance to specific diseases and strengthen our immune system by creating antibodies.

Although the vaccine has been proven effective in curing fatal diseases, many people still believe in conspiracy theories and picture it as dangerous, lethal, and fraudulent.

Some say that vaccines are 'secret biological weapons' made by a 'secret society' to control the population of humans. Others say that scientists created the vaccines so giant companies could generate a lot of fortune by selling them at a high price.

Apart from those naysayers, there are many benefits that we can get from vaccination.

First, it activates the immune system's "memory." When our immune system recognizes the disease, it will quickly form an antibody to protect us from severe complications from that disease.

Next, it helps our community to achieve herd immunity.

At-risk populations, including babies and those whose immune systems are weak and can't get resistance on their own, can get protection from the disease if the whole community is vaccinated.

Before COVID-19, vaccines helped people back then to curb many major plagues. Here are some of the plagues that do not exist today because of vaccination.

The bubonic plague is also known as Black Death. It is one of the fatal diseases and killed more than 25 million people during the 14^th century.

It is a type of infection caused by the Yersinia pestis (Y.pestis) bacterium, spread mainly through fleas on rodents and other animals.

Currently, there is no vaccine for bubonic given to the civilians. However, the vaccine is available only to people who have high exposure to the plague because of their jobs.

Spanish flu was a flu pandemic in 1918. It is considered one of the fatal infections and infected nearly one-third of Earth’s population.

The plague was estimated to kill 20 to 50 million victims. The plague was first observed in Europe, the United States, and Asia before swiftly spreading around the world.

A few years later, scientists discovered the vaccine that stops the virus and prevents it from spreading until today.

Cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhoea. It can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated.

Cholera is caused by drinking water or eating food contaminated with “Vibrio cholerae”. The bacteria release a toxin in the intestines that produces severe diarrhoea.

The vaccine is available only to people who have high exposure to the bacteria.

Nowadays, there are many vaccines for COVID-19 available. Hence, we can lower the risk of getting COVID-19 and create herd immunity.

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.

The government provides a free COVID-19 vaccine for Malaysians. Here are some of the primary COVID-19 vaccines available in Malaysia:

Pfizer-BioNTech is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.

It uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. (mRNA) vaccines teach our cells to make a protein that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.

After our cells make copies of the protein, they destroy the genetic material from the vaccine. Our bodies recognize that the protein should not be there and build antibodies to fight the virus.

This vaccine requires two doses, 21 days apart. It has a 95% efficacy rate.

AstraZeneca is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Oxford University and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca in the United Kingdom.

It contains a modified (vector) virus to transport the antigen genetic code. Then, the human cell will produce the targeted protein, stimulating the human immune response.

This vaccine requires two doses, 60 days apart. It has a 62% to 90% efficacy rate.

Sinovac is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech. It contains a virus that has been killed using high heat, chemicals, or radiation.

The virus is used to stimulate the human immune response. It is suitable for those who have a weak immune system.

This vaccine requires two doses, 30 days apart. It has a 50.4% to 91.25% efficacy rate.

Anthony Fauci described the initial results from Moderna’s vaccine as "stunningly impressive."

It uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology. (mRNA) vaccines teach our cells to make a protein that triggers an immune response inside our bodies.

After our cells make copies of the protein, they destroy the genetic material from the vaccine. Our bodies recognize that the protein should not be there and build antibodies to fight the virus.

This vaccine requires two doses, 28 days apart. It has a 94.5% efficacy rate.

COVID-19 vaccines can cause mild side effects after the first or second dose. Side effects are typical signs that their body is building protection against the COVID-19 in the future.

However, the effects may affect their ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days.

Some examples of side effects of vaccines include:

To reduce the side effects, especially when you experience fever, you can drink plenty of water. Dress lightly to prevent your body from sweating too much.

If the effects are getting worse, please consult the doctor.

There are many ways for you to register for your vaccine. Here are four ways that you can choose:

After you are vaccinated, you still need to follow all the guidelines and SOP made by the government. You still need to wear a mask when you are out and apply social distancing.

The good news about COVID-19 is that the main protein that infects our cells is the same in every mutation of COVID-19. The protein doesn't change, so whatever mutation of COVID-19 you have, the vaccine will work.