Vaccine Victory

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is a scientist who studies vaccines.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been very hard for people everywhere. Scientists have been able to make vaccines. A vaccine is an injection that helps a person fight an illness. Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett is a leader on the team that made a vaccine for COVID-19. Her team worked hard to research and test their vaccine.

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett speaks with vaccine and infectious disease experts as they tour the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

We get vaccines, or shots, at different times to protect us from getting sick. Vaccines work in a few ways. Most vaccines help our bodies get ready to fight a virus, or a type of germ. When we get a vaccine, our body acts the way it would if we had the virus. Our bodies practice fighting the virus. This prepares us to not get too sick if we y actually get the virus.

Fewer people will get sick if enough people get the vaccine. It will help doctors and hospitals help people who do get very sick. They will have more time and resources to help these people. The COVID-19 vaccine is good news after a long and hard year.

What Do You Think? How do you think the news about the vaccine for COVID-19 will affect your life?

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What Do You Think?

Photo Credit: (t)Timothy Nwachukwu/The New York Times, (b)Evan Vucci/AP