Every single human being on earth has been affected or
literally infected by the most destructive and strangest virus called Covid-19
for more than a year since its outbreak, and the major multinational
pharmaceutical companies have made exerted efforts for vaccine development to
fight back. Now that vaccinations are available in most places and gradually
expanded to younger age groups as the eligible targets, we are all trying to
stay patient until it is our turn to get vaccinated. Hoping for the official
termination of the pandemic in any time soon, let us go over some vocabulary/
expressions related to vaccination.
1. vaccine
efficacy: how well the vaccine works in optimal conditions, in
which its storage and delivery are monitored and volunteers are healthy
2. adjuvant(s): an ingredient of a
vaccine that helps create a stronger immune response in the patient’s body. In
short, adjuvants help vaccines work better. Many vaccines developed today
include just small components of germs, such as their proteins, rather than the
entire virus or bacteria.
3. immunity: a
condition of being able to resist a particular disease especially through preventing
development of a pathogenic microorganism or by counteracting the effects of
its products
4. routine
vaccines: those recommended for everyone in the United States,
depending on age and vaccine history. Most people think of these as childhood
vaccines that you get before starting school, but CDC also recommends routine
vaccines for adults (for example, flu vaccine and tetanus booster shots)
5. vaccine
hesitancy: refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines
despite availability of vaccination services. Vaccine hesitancy is complex and
context specific varying across time, place and vaccines. It includes factors
such as complacency, convenience and confidence. ó vaccination
confidence (i.e., trust in vaccination)
6. vaccine
denier: a person who is not only denying scientific consensus
but also actively advocating against vaccination
7. herd
immunity: Herd immunity protects the most vulnerable members of
our population. If enough people are vaccinated against dangerous diseases,
those who are susceptible and cannot get vaccinated are protected because the
germ will not be able to “find” those susceptible individuals.
8. health
literacy: the degree to which individuals have the capacity to
obtain, process, and understand basic health information needed to make
appropriate health decisions
9. Cytokine
storm: influenza-like syndrome or life-threatening systemic
inflammatory syndromes involving elevated levels of circulating cytokines and
immune-cell hyperactivation that can be triggered by various therapies,
pathogens, cancers, autoimmune conditions, and monogenic disorders.
10.
single dose vs. multiple-dose vaccines: Single
dose vaccines refer to one dose or one-off inoculation/shot, whereas multidose
vaccines mean one has to take more than one shot over a set period of time
(*source from https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/health/files/vaccination/docs/glossary_en.pdf and https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(21)00094-3/fulltext#:~:text=The%20inactivated%20whole%2Dvirus%20vaccine,of%20a%20COVID%2D19%20vaccine.)
Time to practice using what we’ve learned in
sentences!
1.
______________ vaccines are critical to help
protect children and adolescents from 16 serious diseases, because high immunization
rates may result in ______________ ____________, which increases protection for
all residents, including the weakest patients. However, quite a few vaccine
_____________s assert that vaccines cause autism and other chronic illnesses,
and thus are showing vaccine _________________.
2.
Medical doctors need to make sure of their patients’
health _____________ when they provide them with prescribed drugs.
3.
Sepsis is one of the typical inflammatory
response known as Cytokine _____________.
4.
Most people obviously want to get the vaccines
that have the highest vaccine ______________, but doctors keep telling one
should get any vaccination available in their local areas.
5.
Aluminium salts are the most commonly used ____________
used in human vaccines. However, alum-adjuvanted vaccines have obvious
limitations, such as requiring ___________-doses instead of single dose for
induced protection
Answer Keys
1. Routine,
herd, immunity, denier, hesitancy
2. literacys
3. storm
4. efficacy
5. adjuvants,
multiple
