Make a resolution to advocate for vaccines this year.
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:
“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.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of 66,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists, has long advocated for the health and safety of our children.
“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.”
American Academy of Pediatricians
Their advice to keep kids safe and healthy includes that all children, unless they have a medical exemption, be fully vaccinated on time and on schedule.
Do Pediatricians Vaccinate Their Own Kids?
Does that mean that all pediatricians vaccinate their kids on time and on schedule?
One study, How Do Physicians Immunize Their Own Children? Differences Among Pediatricians and Nonpediatricians, found that “Ninety-three percent of the surveyed physicians agree with the current official vaccination recommendations and would apply them to their own children.”
This pediatrician’s kids are all fully vaccinated. Photo by Vincent Iannelli, MD
The numbers were even higher for some vaccines, like diphtheria (100%), tetanus (100%), pertussis (98.7%), polio (99.2%), measles (97.4%), mumps (95.2%), and rubella (95.7%). It was lower for those vaccines that were newer to the schedule (the study was in Switzerland in 2005), like Hib and hepatitis B.
Up to about 29% of the pediatricians gave their own kids vaccines that weren’t even on the routine schedule in Switzerland yet, including hepatitis A, flu, Prevnar, and the chicken pox vaccine.
Another study, Vaccination practices among physicians and their children, came to similar conclusions. At least 95% of pediatricians said that they followed the recommendations of the ACIP, and the “over-all rates for individual vaccines were considerably high ranging from 97% to 100%.”
That’s right! At least 99% of pediatricians said that they would give their child the MMR, Varicella, Menactra, flu, and Gardasil vaccines.
An even higher percentage would give hepatitis B, polio, Prevnar, Hib, and DTaP!
Fewer would give rotavirus (94%) and hepatitis A (98%) to their own kids, which is not that surprising, as those are among the newest vaccines.
It is a myth that a large number of pediatricians don’t vaccinate their own kids.
What to Know About How Pediatricians Vaccinating Their Own Kids
Almost all pediatricians vaccinate and protect their own kids with all of the recommended vaccines on the CDC immunization schedule.
More on How Pediatricians Vaccinate Their Own Kids
Nelson Mandela was long imprisoned in South Africa for protesting against apartheid.
After 27 years in prison, he was elected president of the African National Congress (ANC) and eventually became the first elected President of a democratic South Africa.
Nelson Mandela, in addition to all of his other great works, helped get millions of kids around the world vaccinated and protected.
A lesser known fact is that Nelson Mandela served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Vaccine Fund, which provides financial support to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).
“Giving children a healthy start in life, no matter where they are born or the circumstances of their birth, is the moral obligation of every one of us.
I find it heartbreaking that 3 million people, most of them children, die each year from diseases that we can prevent with simple, inexpensive vaccines. These are children who would have grown up to support their families, their communities, their nations. They would have been productive members of societies that are still developing and need their children to be healthy and strong.
By preventing these deaths, we not only would save children’s lives, but we also would help strengthen communities and contribute to the development of strong and prosperous nations.”
Nelson Mandela
During his time working with the Vaccine Fund, from 2001 to 2004, he worked to get more and more kids vaccinated and protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.
“A world free of unnecessary disease would be a world more able to cope with the realities it cannot change. A world less burdened by preventable disease would be a world of more balance and greater opportunity for all. Because as a society we are only as strong as the sum of our parts, we all suffer loss when 25 percent of our global family is incapacitated, as it is today. We all lose because too many of our children will never have the opportunity to realize their talents, to share their unique gifts, to focus their courage, or to inspire their fellow citizens to shape a better world.”
Nelson Mandela
Before his work at the Vaccine Fund, as President of South Africa, in 1996, Nelson Mandela launched the “Kick Polio Out of Africa” campaign at the Organization of African Unity (OAU) meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
He also committed the OAU to regularly monitoring progress of the campaign, which helped decrease the number of countries with endemic polio in Africa from 34 to just 2 in 6 years!
And it was Nelson Mandela himself that was “hugely influential” in making sure the campaign worked.
“Children are our future, they are our best hope, their suffering our worst fear. Parents the world over will lie awake at night with fears and dreams in equal measure for what lies ahead for them. Our actions can help or hinder their development. With the resources that the world has at hand, it is possible to break the cycles of poverty and disease. Starting with immunization, we can reduce the inequities of our world and tackle today’s major epidemics, like HIV/AIDS, so that the next generation has an equal chance of life and health.
Guardians of health, we urge you to take up this challenge: we call on governments and civil groups, organizations of the United Nations system and nongovernmental organizations, philanthropists and responsible corporate citizens, to recognize immunization as a global public good. Meet your moral and financial commitments to the world’s children and make a greater investment in immunization.”
Nelson Mandela
As we get closer to that goal of eradicating polio, we shouldn’t forget that his hard work helped us get there.
We also shouldn’t forget our “moral and financial commitments to the world’s children.”
Let’s continue his work to get them all vaccinated and protected.
What to Know About Nelson Mandela and His Vaccine Advocacy
Nelson Mandela believed in the importance of education, that children should be able to live free from violence and fear, and that they shouldn’t die from diseases that can be easily preventable with vaccines.
From the nurses who refuse to get vaccinated, even though they are routinely around high risk children, to other health care providers who push the idea that it is okay to skip or delay some vaccines, they all put our kids at risk.
“One would anticipate that this medical advance would be universally embraced by both parents and health care professionals. Sadly, however, the antivaccine movement, fueled by a lack of respect for the evidence and a profound paranoia, remains alive and well. It is not an overstatement to lay the blame for a resurgence of deadly childhood infections, stemming from declining vaccination rates, at the feet of this movement. Nurse practitioners (NP) also bear some degree of the blame. While certainly not scientific, the anecdotal evidence from letters to JNP documents that some proportion of our readers buy into the pseudoscience of the antivaccine movement. Comments have ranged from bafflingly uninformed (“I don’t think there is enough evidence to support widespread immunizations”) to profoundly unethical (“I recommend to my patients that they not vaccinate their children”).”
Laurie Scudder, DNP, NP on The Importance of Vaccinations
They are often joined by one or more vaccine-friendly nurse practitioners…
Nurse Practitioners on Vaccines
Of course, most nurse practitioners support getting kids vaccinated and protected though.
That’s reflected in the position statement of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP):
“NAPNAP supports the prioritization of immunization education for parents, guardians and other caregivers of infants, children, and adolescents. This education must include the most current scientific evidence related to vaccine safety, risk, benefits and current resources available to ensure that parents and caregivers receive adequate information about immunizations. This includes, when necessary, relaying the risk of not immunizing their child and potential devastation that can occur when a child is infected with a vaccine-preventable disease. It is incumbent that a PNP also be aware of misinformation in the public domain and provides the correct information to the public as well as the health care community.”
Fortunately, most NPs do a great job educating parents and getting kids vaccinated.
Not all of them though.
You can still find some pushing classic anti-vaccine propaganda about vaccines being made in China, that vaccines don’t work, that vaccine-preventable diseases aren’t dangerous, and that natural treatments work are safer – including many, like essential oils and vitamins that they will be very happy to sell to you.
“It’s time for NPs to be part of the solution. We must preach the importance of vaccines, and then we must practice what we preach and be appropriately immunized ourselves.”
Laurie Scudder, DNP, NP on The Importance of Vaccinations
Actually, it’s time for everyone to get educated and to be part of the solution!
What To Know About Nurse Practitioners on Vaccines
Like the great majority of other health care providers, most nurse practitioners fully support getting kids vaccinated and protected against vaccine preventable diseases.
“Vaccines protect the health of children and adults and save lives. They prevent life – threatening diseases, including forms of cancer. Vaccines have been part of the fabric of our society for decades and are one of the most significant medical innovations of our time.”
More than 350 medical, professional and advocacy organizations in a 2017 letter to President Trump
It is the hundreds of thousands of experts at every major health organization around the world!
American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics, an organization of 66,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists, has long advocated for the health and safety of our children.
“Vaccines are safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines save lives.
Claims that vaccines are linked to autism, or are unsafe when administered according to the recommended schedule, have been disproven by a robust body of medical literature. Delaying vaccines only leaves a child at risk of disease. Vaccines keep communities healthy, and protect some of the most vulnerable in our society, including the elderly, and children who are too young to be vaccinated or have compromised immune systems.”
Fernando Stein, MD, FAAP, President and Karen Remley, MD, MBA, MPH, FAAP, CEO/Executive Vice President, American Academy of Pediatrics
Vaccine friendly pediatricians who are pushing non-standard, parent-selected, delayed protection vaccine schedules are leaving kids at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.
“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.”
AAP on Countering Vaccine Hesitancy
Vaccines are necessary.
“Because rare medically recognized contraindications for specific individuals to receive specific vaccines exist, legitimate medical exemptions to immunization requirements are important to observe. However, nonmedical exemptions to immunization requirements are problematic because of medical, public health, and ethical reasons and create unnecessary risk to both individual people and communities.”
AAP on Medical Versus Nonmedical Immunization Exemptions for Child Care and School Attendance
Society of Pediatric Nurses
“Immunizations are safe and effective in promoting health and preventing disease.”
SPN Position Statement on Immunizations
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
Established in 1973, with more than 8,500 members, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) is the professional association for pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) and all pediatric-focused advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs).
“NAPNAP supports the prioritization of immunization education for parents, guardians and other caregivers of infants, children, and adolescents. This education must include the most current scientific evidence related to vaccine safety, risk, benefits and current resources available to ensure that parents and caregivers receive adequate information about immunizations. This includes, when necessary, relaying the risk of not immunizing their child and potential devastation that can occur when a child is infected with a vaccine-preventable disease. It is incumbent that a PNP also be aware of misinformation in the public domain and provides the correct information to the public as well as the health care community.”
NAPNAP Position Statement on Immunizations
American College of Preventive Medicine
“Vaccine-preventable diseases were a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States in the 20th century. With the advent of immunizations, there have been dramatic rates of decline in these diseases. Clinical studies have shown vaccines to be efficacious and cost effective. ”
ACPM on Childhood Immunizations
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Founded in 1951, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (The College) represents more than 58,000 members.
“Health care providers and patients should be aware that the reassuring safety data for use of the aforementioned vaccines in pregnancy are compelling, and there is no link to vaccine administration and miscarriage. An added benefit to immunizing during pregnancy is the potential for disease prevention in newborns by way of passive antibody transfer to the fetus. Hence, offering pregnant patients influenza and Tdap vaccines is an avenue to protect newborn infants at a critically vulnerable time and before neonates can be vaccinated.”
ACOG on Immunization for Pregnant Women
American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association was founded in 1872, the APHA represents over 25,000 public health professionals.
“And further noting that the Institute of Medicine has recently released a report10 describing the U.S. immunization system as “a national treasure that is too often taken for granted” and calling for substantial increases in federal and state allocation of funds to support immunization infrastructure; therefore
Reaffirms its support for immunization as one of the most cost-effective means of preventing infectious diseases;”
APHA on The Need for Continued and Strengthened Support for Immunization Programs
American Medical Association
The American Medical Association, which was founded in 1847, has just over 240,000 members.
“The AMA fully supports the overwhelming body of evidence and rigorous scientific process used by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices which demonstrate vaccines are among the most effective and safest interventions to both prevent individual illness and protect the health of the public.”
William E. Kobler, MD, member of the AMA Board of Trustees.
Immune Deficiency Foundation
“The development of immunizations for common bacterial and viral infections has represented a major advance in the battle against microbial organisms that constantly threaten the welfare of humankind and particularly the pediatric population. However, the alarming increase in nonimmunized persons could lead to a return of the epidemics seen in the past.
…critical need for maintenance of herd immunity in the population at large. It is particularly important for family members of patients with defective T and B lymphocyte–mediated immunity to receive all of the available standard immunizations (excluding live poliovirus).”
Medical Advisory Committee of the Immune Deficiency Foundation on Recommendations for live viral and bacterial vaccines in immunodeficient patients and their close contacts
American Nurses Association
The American Nurses Association (ANA), founded in 1896, represents “the interests of the nation’s 3.6 million registered nurses.”
“To protect the health of the public, all individuals should be immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases according to the best and most current evidence outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). All health care personnel (HCP), including registered nurses (RNs), should be vaccinated according to current recommendations for immunization of HCP by the CDC and Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).
…
As stated in the Code of Ethics for Nurses (ANA, 2015, p. 19), RNs have an ethical responsibility to “model the same health maintenance and health promotion measures that they teach and research…,” which includes immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases.”
ANA Position Statement on Immunizations
Autism Science Foundation
“Multiple studies have been completed which investigated the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in relation to autism. Researchers have also studied thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, to see if it had any relation to autism. The results of studies are very clear; the data show no relationship between vaccines and autism.”
The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) is the largest professional association of immunologists in the world, representing more than 7,600 basic and clinical immunologists.
“Recent outbreaks have brought increased attention to vaccine- preventable diseases and have highlighted the need for robust and timely immunization to reduce preventable sicknesses and deaths. AAI strongly urges full adherence to recommended vaccination schedules and views vaccines as efficacious for individuals and crucial to public health.
…
Research has repeatedly confirmed that vaccinations are safe and highly effective for all healthy children and adults, and any suggestions to the contrary have been discredited. Ongoing vaccine research continually reaffirms its safety and efficacy, including the number of vaccines administered at any one time and the recommended vaccination schedule.”
The American Association of Immunologists Statement on Vaccines
American Osteopathic Association
“The American Osteopathic Association supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its efforts to achieve a high compliance rate among infants, children and adults by encouraging osteopathic physicians to immunize patients of all ages when appropriate ; supports the HHS National Vaccine Implementation Plan; and encourages third- party payers to reimburse for vaccines and their administration.”
AOA on Immunizations
National Association of School Nurses
#TodaysSchoolNurse is “grounded in ethical and evidence-based practice, are the leaders who bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, advocate for quality student-centered care, and collaborate to design systems that allow individuals and communities to develop their full potential.”
“It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that immunizations are essential to primary prevention of disease from infancy through adulthood.
…
The school nurse is well-poised to create awareness and influence action to increase the uptake of mandated and recommended immunizations. The school nurse should use evidence-based immunization strategies, such as school-located vaccination clinics, reminders about vaccine schedules, state immunization information systems (IIS), strong vaccination recommendations, and vaccine education for students, staff, and families.”
NASN Immunizations Policy Statement
American Academy of Family Practice
“With the exception of policies which allow for refusal due to a documented allergy or medical contraindication, the AAFP does not support immunization exemption policies.”
AAFP Immunization Policy Statement
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) is a professional organization with over 7,000 members, including allergists/ immunologists, in the United States and 73 other countries.
“Immunization is perhaps the greatest public health achievement of all time, having significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality of many infectious diseases. Routine immunization of children, adolescents, and adults provides substantial protection from a large number of infectious diseases…
Patients who have experienced adverse reactions to vaccines might unnecessarily be advised to avoid subsequent immunization, which could have important adverse personal and population health consequences. Although there are some adverse reactions to vaccines that constitute absolute contraindications to administration of future doses, most such reactions do not preclude subsequent immunization. Patients who have experienced an apparent allergic or other serious adverse reaction after receiving a vaccine warrant evaluation by an allergist/immunologist. Also, patients with preexisting health conditions that might predispose to adverse reactions to vaccines could benefit from such an evaluation. In most cases, a risk-benefit analysis will favor subsequent immunization.”
AAAAI Practice Paramater on Adverse Reactions to Vaccines
CJ First Candle
“There seems to be a common misconception that vaccines are somehow associated with SIDS deaths. This is not true! Experts warn that the risk of leaving your baby unprotected is 1,000 times greater than any increased risk for SIDS. Because infants receive many immunizations during the critical development period from two to six months of age, and 90 percent of SIDS deaths occur within this time frame, it is only logical that many SIDS victims have recently received vaccines. This does not mean that the immunization had anything to do with the infant’s subsequent sudden and unexpected death. The cause and effect of immunizations and SIDS has been comprehensively studied for more than two decades. In fact, in countries where immunization schedules are different from those in the United States, the peak incidence of SIDS is still between two to four months.”
CJ First Candle on Immunizations
Infectious Disease Society of America
Founded in 1963, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), with over 9,000 members, represents physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases.
“The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) recognizes the great benefits that vaccines provide for the public health. Substantial scientific evidence demonstrates vaccines’ enormous value in protecting individuals and populations from serious and life-threatening infections. Scientific evidence also demonstrates the overall safety of vaccines. Communities are most effectively protected when all are immunized.
…
Studies demonstrate that the easier it is to receive an exemption, the higher the rate of exemptions in a particular state. As the number of exemptions increases, the risk of vaccine – preventable disease increases. Therefore, states must make every effort to minimize the number of its citizens exempted from immunization mandates. Such exemptions make the state legislatures who grant them, as well as the individuals who receive them, responsible for placing the remaining state population at greater risk of acquiring potentially fatal infections.”
IDSA Policy Statement on State Immunization Mandates
The Arc of the United States
“Prior to widespread immunization in the United States, infectious diseases killed or disabled thousands of children each year. The near elimination of intellectual disability due to measles encephalitis, congenital rubella syndrome, and Haemophilus influenzae type b meningitis or Hib can be contributed to vaccines.”
The Arc Facts About Childhood Immunizations
American College Health Association
“The American College Health Association (ACHA) strongly supports the use of vaccines to protect the health of our individual students and our campus communities. In recognition of the vital role that vaccine coverage plays in community immunity (herd immunity), ACHA discourages use of nonmedical exemptions to required vaccines.”
ACHA on Immunization Recommendations for College Students
What to Know About Expert Statements on Vaccines
Over the years, hundreds of organizations representing millions of families, health care providers, researchers, patients, and consumers, have repeatedly expressed their unequivocal support for vaccines, because they understand that vaccines work and that they are safe and necessary.
Caveant lector et viewor — Let the reader and viewer beware.
Silberg et al, on Assessing, controlling, and assuring the quality of medical information on the Internet
Unfortunately, you can’t just trust any website that pops up at the top of your search results on Google, Bing, or Yahoo or that is shared by a friend on Facebook. Some of these sites might push misinformation about vaccines and be filled with anti-vaccine talking points.
Whether you are on the fence or just have a few questions, instead of feeling lucky that Google will lead you to trusted information, start your research about vaccines on the following websites. They are the most reliable and trusted sources of immunization information you will find.
Your pediatrician should also be a good resource for questions about vaccines.
Evaluating Vaccine Websites
Be skeptical if looking elsewhere.
Some general questions experts recommend asking, and which will certainly help when visiting a website about vaccines, include:
Who runs the Web site?
Who pays for the Web site?
What is the Web site’s purpose?
What is the original source of the Web site’s information?
How does the Web site document the evidence supporting its information?
Who reviewed the information before the owner posted it on the Web site?
How current is the information on the Web site?
How does the Web site owner choose links to other sites?
Fortunately, anti-vaccine websites are fairly easy to spot.
Anti-vaccine websites often filled with conspiracy theories, talk about BigPharma, and ideas about how everyone else is hiding the truth about vaccines.
They are often filled with vaccine injury stories and articles about how vaccines are filled with poison (they aren’t), don’t really work (they do), and aren’t even needed (they certainly are).
Tragically, their pseudo-scientific arguments can sometimes be persuasive, especially if you don’t understand that they are mostly the same old arguments that the anti-vaccine movement has been using for over 200 years to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.
What to Know About the Best Vaccine Websites
With current information, a clear purpose (informing users, not selling supplements in an online store), and authors who are well-respected, our collection of the best vaccine websites can help you get educated about vaccines from a trusted source.
My uncle got polio just before the vaccine was developed. He was hospitalized for six months, almost didn’t survive, and lived with atrophied muscles in one of his legs.
A rather strange anti-vaccine argument you might sometimes hear is that you can’t unvaccinate your kids (even though they push detox plans that say they do exactly that), so go ahead and wait to vaccinate them until you have “done your research” and are sure.
The problem with that argument, like most others that anti-vaccine folks use to justify their decisions to skip or delay vaccines, is that you can wait too long.
“In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the smallpox taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of the parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died under it; my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen.”
Benjamin Franklin Autobiography
Tragically, Ben Franklin wasn’t the last parent to regret not vaccinating his child.
More Parents Who Regret Not Vaccinating Their Kids
Roald Dahl, who famously wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is less well known for having a daughter who died of measles. It was just before the measles vaccine came out, so he didn’t regret not vaccinating her, but in urging other parents to protect their children, he did seem to regret that a vaccine wasn’t yet available.
For many other parents, a vaccine was available that could have kept their kids from getting sick.
“In 1989, the Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine was relatively new and not yet routine. I was aware of the vaccine’s availability, but, busy mom that I was, I had not yet made the trip to the health department to get the immunization for my two-year-old daughter, Sarah. I will always regret that bit of procrastination and the anguish that it caused.”
Peggy Archer
Some of them have shared their personal stories, including the parents of:
Abby Peterson‘s “pediatrician steered her away from vaccinating her daughter” against chickenpox and her mother, Duffy Peterson, now says that “she wishes she had questioned the doctor’s recommendations more forcefully.” Abby died of a chicken pox infection.
this unvaccinated three year old who spent six days in the hospital (part of it in a slight coma, during which they weren’t sure he would survive) with Haemophilus influenzae type b epiglottitis
Abigail who was unvaccinated and died of invasive pneumococcal disease
these two unvaccinated kids who developed severe dehydration from rotavirus infections
Sarah who was unvaccinated and developed a croupy cough when she was two-years-old and ended up on a ventilator with Haemophilus influenzae type b epiglottitis
Ashley who died from the flu and had never gotten a flu shot
Evan who died of a vaccine-preventable disease because his mom was not told about the vaccine that could have prevented it
There is another group of parents who have regrets about vaccines. Those parents whose kids can’t be vaccinated (too young to be vaccinated, have cancer, or have another medical exemption, etc.) are put at risk and exposed to vaccine-preventable diseases by intentionally unvaccinated kids. These parents typically regret that those around them don’t get vaccinated and protected.
Your decision to get educated and vaccinate your family shouldn’t be based on fear or concerns of regret if you delay or skip any vaccines, but these types of personal stories are important to review, especially if you also hear, watch, or read any stories about vaccine injuries.
What To Know About Regretting Not Vaccinating Your Kids
Delaying or skipping one or more vaccines isn’t safer or healthier, it just puts your child at increased of catching the vaccine-preventable diseases the vaccines protect you against and might lead to feelings of regret if you wait too long.
More On Parents Who Regret Not Vaccinating Their Kids
Before his work at the Vaccine Fund, as President of South Africa, in 1996, Nelson Mandela launched the “Kick Polio Out of Africa” campaign at the Organization of African Unity (OAU) meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
