Although so-called alternative immunization schedules have been pushed by ‘vaccine friendly’ or disease friendly pediatricians for years, including Bob Sears and Jay Gordon, it is important to keep in mind that they are completely untested.
Remember, there is no official alternative immunization schedule that you can follow. At best, you can follow a non-standard, parent-selected, delayed protection vaccine schedule that leaves your child at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics:
No alternative vaccine schedules have been evaluated and found to provide better safety or efficacy than the recommended schedule, supported by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC and the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the AAP (the committee that produces the Red Book).
Pediatricians who routinely recommend limiting the numbers of vaccines administered at a single visit such that vaccines are administered late are providing care that deviates from the standard evidence-based schedule recommended by these bodies.
For more information:
- The Problem with Dr. Bob’s Alternative Vaccine Schedule
- Cashing In On Fear: The Danger of Dr. Sears
- Delayed Schedules
- Sears and Gordon: Should Misleading Vaccine Advice Have Professional Consequences?
- Altering the Schedule
- Talking about Vaccines : Countering Dr. Sears
- A comprehensive takedown of Dr. Sears’ The Vaccine Book
- Moms Who Vax: What Middle Ground?
- Finding the Silver Lining in Delayed Vaccination
- Delaying Vaccines Not A Good Idea
- Why Delay Vaccines For Your Child?
- An example of how alternate vaccine schedules endanger children
- Getting with the Schedule : Slow-Vax to Pro-Vax
- Inventing your own vaccine schedule? Not a wise idea.