Covid Vaccine Success
The first results of the UK vaccination programme suggests it is having a “spectacular” impact on preventing serious illness.
Research led by Public Health Scotland found at four weeks after the first dose, hospital admissions were reduced by 85% and 94% for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs respectively.
Recent reports have suggested that the COVID Vaccines are having a dramatic impact on reducing hospital admissions. The Year 10 students have been learning about the role of the immune system and how vaccines can be used as they study the AQA Biology/Trilogy Unit 3 ‘Infection and Response’.
The girls have learnt how vaccinations contain modified pathogens or synthetic versions of the antigens on the surface of the pathogen to stimulate the immune response to produce antibodies specific to the pathogen. The girls learn about the presence of the ‘memory’ white blood cells which provide continued immunity. Vaccination programmes are studied and the students have learnt how they can establish herd immunity within the community. The girls have also learnt about the process for developing new drugs, learning about the pre-clinical and clinical stages of drug development designed to test for “TED” – toxicity, efficacy and dosage all terms being routinely used in news reports.
The examples below show how the girls have been developing their literacy skills within their science curriculum.
Mr Knee
Science Department
