Need to make a few New Year’s resolutions?
We all know the popular resolutions that folks consider making each year, including that they exercise more, spend less money, and enjoy life more, etc.
Those are all great, but this year, how about adding a few about vaccines!
Why We Need Vaccine Resolutions
Why do we need resolutions about vaccines?
“You hear about people who don’t like to vaccinate their kids in the Western world, which I suppose is a personal choice, but when you’re out there, the result of your children not being vaccinated is that they’ll likely die, or be horribly maimed. So yes, I saw a real desire to have their children protected, and also a real understanding of it – I didn’t seem to come across anybody who went ‘What is it?’ Or ‘What does it do?’ They all seemed to know about it.”
Ewan McGregor on Cold Chain Mission
Not surprisingly, you don’t have to be “out there” to see what can happen if your kids aren’t vaccinated. That’s evident from all of the kids who have died during the recent measles outbreaks in Europe. And the fact that most kids who die with flu in the US aren’t vaccinated.
That’s why we need people to make these resolutions about vaccines.
There are too many folks out there who push misinformation and propaganda about vaccines, and there are parents who get scared and skip or delay vaccines, leaving their kids unvaccinated and unprotected.
Vaccine Resolutions to Make for 2018
Did you know that we are closing in on the end of the Global Vaccine Action Plan’s Decade of Vaccines? The plan is to deliver universal access to vaccines by 2020.
Unfortunately, universal access doesn’t help those people who simply don’t want vaccines.
So your vaccine resolutions this year could be to:
- Get educated about vaccines. Know that vaccines work, vaccines are safe, and vaccines are necessary.
- Learn about the myths that folks might use to scare you about vaccines and why they aren’t true.
- Review why some people don’t vaccinate their kids.
- Be more skeptical of things you read, hear, and see that might imply that vaccines don’t work or that they are dangerous in any way.
- Get your kids caught up on any vaccines that you may have skipped or delayed.
And this year, become an advocate for vaccines, helping parents who are on the fence understand that vaccines are safe and necessary, and pushing back against anti-vaccine misinformation.
“The promotion of the best scientific knowledge, moral attitudes, and public health practice with regard to vaccination.”
Balinska on What is vaccine advocacy? Proposal for a definition and action
Are you ready to make your vaccine resolutions for 2018?
What to Know About 2018 Vaccine Resolutions
Make sure that your New Year’s resolutions for 2018 include that you get educated about vaccines, get your kids caught up if they are behind, and that you become an advocate for vaccines.
More on 2018 Vaccine Resolutions
- Vaccine advocacy 101
- A Pediatrician’s Path to Vaccine Advocacy
- Review – Anti-vaccine activists, Web 2.0, and the postmodern paradigm – An overview of tactics and tropes used online by the anti-vaccination movement
- Ewan McGregor: Cold Chain Mission
- Why people fall for pseudoscience (and how academics can fight back)
- Beware of false balance: Are the views of the scientific community accurately portrayed?
- 9 Surprising Benefits of Vaccine Advocacy
- Study – What is vaccine advocacy? Proposal for a definition and action
- Advocating for vaccination in a climate of science denial
- Learning to Advocate
- How to make a difference – Responsible vaccine advocacy
- Advocacy for Vaccines: A Leadership Guide for School Nurses and Allied Health Professionals
- Using social media to help parents get vaccine questions answered
- WHO – Decade of Vaccines ― Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011-2020