How does vaccines work?

The goal of vaccines is to "train" our cells to be able to

recognize and eliminate the virus or bacteria that is invading
our body, thus preventing us from getting sick. The most
common way to develop a vaccine is to use the virus (dead or
weakened) to introduce it into our body and allow the cells of
our immune system (which defends us against diseases or
organisms that try to attack our body) to learn to recognize
and attack it.

Edward Jenner, a late 18th century country doctor, started the history of vaccines. In his
time, smallpox killed approximately 400,000 people in Europe each year. For some
reason, herders and milkmaids seemed to be immune to the disease, so the doctor
decided to investigate further. He noticed that when cows were milked, they often suffered
from blisters caused by cowpox (a mild disease that affected cows and caused wounds
very similar to smallpox), so he assumed that if he managed to infect a person with this
disease, he could make him immune to smallpox.
In 1796, the English doctor carried out the first vaccination in history, infecting the son of
his gardener, James Phipps, with smallpox vaccine, and after a few months injecting him
with the smallpox, so that he did not get sick. After this, Louis Pasteur demonstrated that
weakened microbes could be used for disease prevention, and also proposed the term
"vaccine", in his honor, recalling the origin of his experiments.
All viruses and bacteria have molecules called antigens, which are selected using different
methods, and then introduced into the body.To do this, the viruses must be cultivated, and
a series of necessary steps must be taken before they can be released for widespread
use, taking approximately 12 to 18 months.
There are several types of vaccines: those that use the live (but weakened)
microorganism, those that use fragments of the dead microbe, those that use substances
produced by the virus, or those that are based on the use of a man-made substance
similar to a fragment of the microorganism.

The use of vaccines is essential today, as it protects those who cannot be vaccinated
(babies, people with diseases of the immune system, the elderly, etc.) by means of a
phenomenon called "herd or group immunity", which makes it possible to eliminate or
protect an entire population against a potentially fatal disease without having to vaccinate
each individual.
Finally, it should be noted that the only risks of getting vaccinated are: having a minor
allergic reaction and/or getting a very mild infection if you have a weakened immune
system (which is unlikely).
This clearly indicates that the benefits of vaccines far outweigh the possible risks.
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