VACCINE RESOURCE COMMITTEE
of the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association
View Full List of Vaccine Questions Here
General Vaccine Question #6:
Does getting the disease have a better immune response than the vaccine?
In general natural and vaccine induced immunity are equivalent. For some illnesses vaccines may have to be repeated. Vaccines help the body learn how to defend itself from disease without the dangers of a full-blown infection.
All immunity developed by the human body is natural. But immunity can be developed through one of two ways, including vaccine-induced immunity and infection-induced immunity.
Vaccine-induced immunity
Vaccines provide a safe way to build immunity against diseases without the risk from the disease. Vaccines teach the immune system how to recognize and respond to the disease. It is like a training exercise. The immune system makes antibodies so it is ready to fight off the disease in the future. If a person is ever exposed to the real disease, then the antibodies are there to quickly help protect the. Sometimes more than one dose of a vaccine is needed for the best protection.
Infection-induced immunity
Infection induced immunity (sometimes known as “natural immunity”) is riskier than vaccine-induced immunity. The term “natural immunity” is misleading because many people think it means “good” or “pure.” But that is not what it means. It means a person got sick—and suffered through the disease and possible complications—to gain immunity. That is why the term infection-induced immunity is more accurate. Vaccines give you immunity without the risks that come from diseases. Vaccines are carefully studied and made in a high-quality way to provide immunity without getting the disease.
Strengthening immunity with vaccines is especially important for babies. When babies are born, their immune system is immature. They receive some protection after birth by way of antibodies transferred to them before birth from their mother through the placenta, but this protection decreases over the first few months of life. With exposure to milder infections in infancy, a baby's immune system develops and they can fight these infections. However, their immune systems are not developed enough to fight severe infections, which may be fatal. The vaccines given to babies in the first 6 months of life help their immune system develop more quickly, and reduce the risk of getting sick or dying from severe infection.
For example consider pertussis in newborns. We know about 1 in 3 babies younger than 1 year old with whooping cough will need to be hospitalized, and about 1 in 100 babies who are hospitalized will die. Immunizations in pregnant women with pertussis vaccine infections prevents infection in newborns and therefore reduces hospitalizations and deaths of newborns.
Immunity from vaccines reduces the chance of severe illness or death. For instance:
Even with treatment, approximately 1 out of every 10 people who get meningococcal disease will die. Of those who survive, up to 20% will suffer serious and permanent complications, including brain damage, kidney damage, hearing loss, and amputation.
Haemphilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease can be very dangerous. It can cause meningitis, sepsis, or pneumonia. Children who are up to date on their Hib vaccine are not likely to get sick with the disease because of how well the vaccine works.
Infection-induced immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 is no better than vaccine-induced immunity, and it comes with greater risks. Studies show that infection-induced immunity to the virus weakens over time and does so faster than immunity provided by COVID-19 vaccination.
Sources
Government of United States: Is immunity from vaccines better than “natural” immunity?
John Hopkins Medicine: COVID-19 Vaccine: What You Need to Know
Yale School of Medicine: Vaccination Has a Lower Risk of Autoantibody Development Than COVID Natural Immunity
The Lancey Regional Health Americas: Vaccination and natural immunity: Advantages and risks as a matter of public health policy