From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishvaccinevac‧cine /ˈvæksiːn $ vækˈsiːn/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] MDa substance which contains a weak form of the bacteria or virus that causes a disease and is used to protect people from that disease a polio vaccine Doctors worried that there would not be enough vaccine for everyone who needed it.
Examples from the Corpus
vaccine• Of those, 440,000 received the actual vaccine, and the rest got a placebo.• When Sabin developed his attenuated strains of polio he energetically pursued his goal of making them widely accepted as vaccine strains.• a hepatitis vaccine• Several members of the two committees have links with drug companies manufacturing meningitis vaccines.• There are supplies of smallpox vaccines stored in the United States and several other countries.• But the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria has presented a new need for such vaccines, particularly for tuberculosis.• Those at risk are being urged to have the vaccine as soon as possible.• If the vaccine appears safe, tests of its effectiveness will begin in as many as 3,500 people next year.• The vaccine brings hope to 1,300 young children struck down by the Hib form of deadly disease every year.Origin vaccine (1700-1800) Latin vaccinus “of a cow”, from vacca “cow”; because the substance was originally obtained from sick cows 