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⇨ First of all, what exactly is a vaccine and how does it work?
A vaccine is a medical substance that contains minute amounts of weakened bacteria or virus of a certain disease. Once your body comes into contact with the bacteria or virus, it will automatically produce antibodies in an attempt to fight off the disease. Your immune system will remember the antibodies that it’s produced, which means it is now equipped to fight future infections of the same pathogen by developing sufficient immunity to defend yourself from the disease.
You can also get vaccinated against multiple diseases at once, as some vaccines have more than one bacteria or virus in a single injection. This term is known as a “combined vaccination”. Some other vaccinations will require more than one dose in order to build up immunity, while other vaccines require you a revisit several years down the line to bring immunity levels back again.
Receiving more than one type of vaccine at a time is also safe and common, as your body is used to coming into contact with a lot of pathogens every day anyway. It will also minimise the number of vaccination and immunisation appointments you need to have—a win if you’re not a fan of needles!
After receiving vaccinations, you may experience some mild side-effects, such as sore arms, dizziness, and even a low-grade fever. This is normal and you needn’t worry too much as your body is trying to learn and better understand how to fight off the disease.