Between all the new vaccines and variants pertaining to the COVID-19 virus, life can be pretty confusing. So here’s an update on what we know about our virus. We have a few vaccines Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson being the most popular, to help us fight back against the virus. Now the virus is fighting back by mutating into new variants. Though this was expected it can be scary and confusing

We’re all asking the same question, “how does the vaccine really work?” According to the CDC, instead of giving your body immunity from COVID-19, it gives your body the memory. This is so that if you somehow get the virus, your body will remember it and fight it effectively. Basically, The COVID-19 vaccine is like any vaccine you would get for school. The body has many different types of cells. White blood cells are the cells that fight off infections and diseases. When you first get sick with something new, your body doesn’t know how to fight it. Once you get over that illness, if you get it again, your body can fight it faster and better than it did before.  You might ask, “Why would my body do that? That doesn’t make any sense.” This is because your body remembers the illness and how it treated it. The vaccine does not stop you from getting the virus, we all know that because we’ve seen it. So no, the vaccine doesn’t completely protect you from the virus. However, it does help you get over it faster and protects you from some of the side effects. With the recent FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine, the side effects of the vaccination itself is also kept to a minimum.

The new variants of COVID-19 are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. According to the CDC, these variants spread a lot faster and harm a lot more people. The variants were expected. There’s going to be different types of every disease. You can see this in things that have been around for years. Take the flu for example. Influenza is something that has been around for decades upon decades. Now there are a hundred different types of it! For right now, the CDC only knows about the four variants listed above. The vaccine does not protect you from them, just like the original strand of COVID-19. However, it does help you fight off the infection. According to the CDC, the Alpha and Delta variants cause more people to get sick and die. The mask mandate has been put back in place in order to help protect everyone from the different variants.

Things are constantly changing in the world. Over the last two years, we’ve seen that become very apparent. COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it and continues to do so. This virus will continue to make history and forever be remembered as one of the scariest and worst times in our lifetime. 

For more information on the vaccine and the new variants of COVID-19, visit https://www.cdc.gov.