Covid-19 Vaccine: The Important Stuff

What is the vaccine?

  • Two separate injections given 10-12 weeks apart
  • Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines contain the building blocks of the COVID-19 virus. Your immune system identifies this and creates antibodies to fight them.
  • The antibodies protect you from later infection.

Do the vaccines work?

  • They will start to give you protection 14 days after your first dose
  • They will not completely stop you from catching COVID-19, but they reduce the risk of you becoming very ill
  • Pfizer protects against symptomatic COVID-19 in 94 out of 100 people
  • AstraZeneca protects against severe disease and hospitalisation in 100% of people

Why should you get the vaccine?

It reduces your chance of becoming seriously ill and needing to go to hospital. This is especially important if you have a medical condition that puts you at risk of COVID-19
Even if you are healthy, you can help to protect your family, and those around you by reducing the chance of spreading the virus.

  • Protect yourself, your family and your friends

Common Side Effects

  • Sore arm around the site of injection
  • Feeling tired or achy
  • Flu like symptoms
  • Headaches
  • Feeling nauseous

These mean your immune system is doing its job, not that you have COVID-19.

Myth busting

    • Microchips: The vaccine does not contain any form of microchip, GPS or tracking device
    • Poison: Vaccines do not contain any form of poison or harmful substances
    • Infertility: There is no evidence that the vaccine has any effect on fertility
    • Blood clots: For people over the age of 30, the AstraZeneca vaccine has an extremely low risk of blood clots, far lower that the risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 (for those under 30, an alternative vaccine will be offered)
    • Unsafe: The vaccines have gone through extensive testing like other medicines to ensure they are safe. This includes multiple stages of testing on tens of thousands of people
    • Give you Covid: The vaccine does not contain the active form of the virus, so it can not give you COVID-19