vaccinate against (something)

vaccinate against (something)

1. To make use a vaccine or similar substance to produce immunity or resistance against a particular disease. Citizens are being urged to vaccinate against the 'flu this winter. The mortality rate for polio was the highest in the world before the country started vaccinating against it in the 1960s.

2. To give someone or an animal a vaccine or similar substance to produce immunity or resistance against a particular disease. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "vaccinate" and "against." Before we began vaccinating children against tetanus, getting even a minor cut from something rusty could have proved lethal. Farmers who do not vaccinate their livestock against these diseases could face high fines or even jail time.

See also: vaccinate

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

vaccinate (someone or an animal) against something

to inoculate or immunize someone or an animal against some disease. They had to vaccinate us against yellow fever. The vet vaccinated the horse against everything that threatened it.

See also: vaccinate

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

vaccinate against

or vaccinate for

v.

To give someone a vaccination to produce immunity to some infectious disease: The doctor vaccinated the child against measles. The dog has been vaccinated for rabies.

See also: vaccinate

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.