This week former Chief Medical Advisor of the United States Dr. Anthony Fauci attended a U.S. senate hearing to be questioned about the origins of COVID-19 and the details surrounding its spread.

During the grilling, Dr. Fauci repeatedly refused to answer to senators. He notably declined questions surrounding the theory that the coronavirus leaked from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and the government’s polarizing management of the virus, pleading the fifth.

Critics online have since correlated Fauci’s lack of response as a definitive reason to distrust the use of vaccines.

Honestly, Fauci’s failure to address the origin of the coronavirus comes off as a separate controversy, one that has nothing to do with the medical effects of vaccines. From here, it’s reasonable to say that Dr. Fauci’s silence does not signify that vaccines are ineffective.

For decades vaccines have played a significant role in reducing the spread of infectious diseases and preventing severe illness throughout modern history.

These doses work by imitating the infection and engaging the body’s natural defense without having to succumb to the full effects of an infection. 

As described by the Center of Disease and Control Prevention, “The active ingredient in all vaccines is an antigen, the name for any substance that causes the immune system to begin producing antibodies.” 

“Antibodies are proteins produced by white blood cells to identify and neutralize foreign substances. After they have eliminated an infection, white blood cells stop multiplying and their numbers dwindle until only a few are left to keep watch. At that point, a person is considered immunized.”

In simpler terms, vaccines safely train the immune system to recognize and fight a virus or bacteria before a person is exposed to the real infection. Once the body recognizes the pathogen —  any biological agent or microorganism that causes diseases — it can respond more quickly and effectively if exposed in the future.

Thanks to this science and medical research, infectious diseases that once claimed millions of lives have become far less common and, in some cases, nearly eliminated.

To better illustrate the powerful effects of vaccines, here is a graph displaying the number of measles cases in the U.S. since its vaccine distribution.

It can be seen here that since releasing an official vaccine in 1963, the number of measles cases reported in the U.S. fell dramatically. Going from half a million cases to just 13 cases in 2020.

Illnesses like polio have also decreased significantly following the widespread use of vaccines. And even better, smallpox is the only human infectious disease eradicated worldwide through vaccination.

One of the biggest misconceptions regarding vaccines is the idea that these doses work as cures or completely prevent illness — which is far from the truth. 

Instead, vaccines train the immune system to recognize and fight harmful bacteria before they can cause severe disease. While vaccinated people can still become infected, they are often far less likely to experience serious complications, hospitalization, or death.

Returning to the central question: Can Dr. Fauci’s refusal to explain the origins of COVID-19 to senators be considered suspicious? Perhaps. However, his silence has no connection to the medical evidence supporting how vaccines work.

Vaccines have protected millions of people around the world long before this controversial hearing and will continue to do so long after it.