Why vaccination is important
Vaccination remains the best way to protect ourselves and our loved ones against the impacts of COVID-19, including serious illness or death from the virus.
Current evidence shows that people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine have a much lower chance of developing more serious symptoms from COVID-19. This is compared to those who did not get the vaccine.
Vaccines are the most effective way to protect against infectious diseases. They do this by strengthening your immune system by training it to recognise and fight against specific viruses.
When you get vaccinated, you are protecting yourself and helping to protect the whole community. Once enough people in the community are vaccinated, it slows down the spread of disease. Higher vaccination rates make outbreaks far less likely.
When a high proportion of the community is vaccinated against a disease, it creates herd immunity. This means that enough people are immunised to stop the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases to protect those who can’t be vaccinated.