When the vaccine enters your body, often through injection, your body will recognize it as the pathogen it came from and trigger an immune response to destroy it. Similarly to building natural immunity, your body will remember what it destroyed and how to destroy it quickly in the future.

The pathogen will cause damage to your body until an immune response can destroy it. You will experience symptoms due to the pathogen (e.g., disease, illness, etc.) and your immune response (e.g., fever, fatigue, etc.). After destroying the pathogen, your immune system keeps a record of it so it can recognise and destroy the pathogen quickly if it enters the body again.

You can receive the protective benefits/immunity against a pathogen without experiencing the adverse symptoms associated with being infected by that pathogen.

Yes, the vaccines that Grace Health Centre recommends have all been rigorously tested and studied by reliable, international governments and institutions. Every individual is unique and, thus, some individuals may experience unintentional side effects from vaccines; but, generally, vaccines do more good than harm.

There are various vaccines that Health Canada recommends Canadians get at specific ages. For information on all of those, and more, visit the government of Canada’s Vaccines and Immunizations website.