Why You Should Vaccinate Your Child

If Your Child Is Missing A Vaccine

Life can get busy and you may not be able to make every vaccination appointment for your child. Your child may also have missed vaccines from your health care provider or their school because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important to call your health care provider or local public health authority if your child missed receiving any vaccines. They can help your child get back on track with the recommended vaccination schedule. This will help to protect your child from many vaccine-preventable diseases.

Keeping Track Of Immunizations

Most of your childs vaccinations are completed between birth and 6 years. Many vaccines are given more than once, at different ages, and in combinations. This means that youll need to keep a careful record of your child’s shots. Although your doctor’s office will also keep track, people change doctors, records get lost, and the person ultimately responsible for keeping track of your child’s immunizations is you.

Ask your child’s doctor for an immunization record form. Think about your child’s record as you would a birth certificate and keep it with your other essential documents. You can also download an easy-to-read immunization schedule and record form at the CDC website.

Even though most parents and doctors do a good job of keeping up with immunizations, studies show that about one-fourth of preschool children are missing at least one routine vaccination. Most states will not let your child start school without a complete immunization record. Sometimes a vaccination is missed when a child is sick. No matter what the reason, its important to make up missed immunizations.

If your child has missed an immunization, you don’t have to go back and start over for most vaccines. The previous immunizations are still good. Your doctor will just resume the immunization schedule. If, for any reason, your child receives additional doses of a vaccine, this is also not a concern, although your child will still need any future doses according to the recommended schedule.

What If We Missed A Shot

Life with young children can be very busy. You may not be able to make every vaccination appointment for your child. But it is important to get back on schedule.

You should book an appointment with your healthcare provider as soon as possible. They can help you figure out what vaccines your child has already had and which ones are needed.

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What If My Child Is Ill

There are very few medical reasons to delay immunisation. Babies and children with minor coughs and colds, or those on antibiotics, can be immunised safely and effectively. However, if your child has a high temperature, the immunisation should be put off until your child is better. If you are worried about whether your child is fit to be immunised, talk it over with the doctor or nurse before putting off the immunisation.

What if my child was premature, had a low birth weight or had jaundice? In general, premature babies should be immunised as normal. It is important that premature babies are protected because they are more vulnerable to certain infections. If your child had a very low birth weight, you should discuss their immunisation needs with your paediatrician. Babies who had jaundice after being born and those who are being breast fed should be immunised as normal.

Does Going Back To School Increase My Childs Risk Of Catching Or Transmitting The Coronavirus

The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is a concern among those who have not been vaccinated, including children. With that in mind, the CDC has updated its recommendations for COVID-19 prevention in K-12 schools and recommends universal indoor masking by all students , staff, teachers, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status, as well as physical distancing and other precautions. Having your teen or child vaccinated as soon as he or she is eligible will help prevent infections and spread of COVID-19.

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Reasons To Not Vaccinate Your Kid

An excerpt from Stay Away From My ER, and other fun bits of wisdom.

1. You dont like to be told what to do. Especially not by arrogant doctors, who act as if they know better, just because theyve been through a few decades of training!

2. Your child hates shots. And, as her parent, you feel that your main job is to keep her comfortable rather than safe.

3. Youre more worried about side effects and complications than you are about tetanus and meningitis. You heard about the two deaths from vaccination errors in Samoa, but not about the 83 measles deaths. Because you dont trust the media. The pro-vaccine mafia is quick to sweep all cases of vaccine-related injury and death under the rug as extremely rare anomalies, but many a parent of a vaccine-injured child will be the first to tell you that, if she could do it all over again, she wouldnt have let her kid get jabbed, said the anti-vaxxers.

4. You once got the flu after you got the flu vaccine, so you know that vaccines dont work. Newsflash: they do. Just not 100 percent.

6. Taking your kid to the doctor takes time. Plus, doctors are always late, like theyre taking care of sick kids or something, and you dont have time for this.

7. Vaccines cost money.Not yours, of course, they come from the insurance. But you still have to pay for the gas.

9. You think that your pediatrician is looking to make money out of your child. After all, pediatricians are well known to be rich.

24. The earth is overpopulated.

Why You Should Vaccinate Your Kids Against Covid

Its time for my healthy nine-year-old son to get vaccinated against COVID-19. In fact, its time for every kid aged five to eleven to get vaccinated.

An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration has reviewed the data from clinical trials assessing the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children five to eleven years old. The experts voted unanimously to recommend authorization for this vaccine in children in that age range. As a next step, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will decide whether all kids should have access to the vaccine, or only some. Some experts have proposed use in high-risk children only while we accumulate additional data.

Waiting to vaccinate all children would be a mistake. Based on the data we have, the right answer is clear: the CDC should recommend that all kids ages five to eleven should have be vaccinated as quickly as possible.

There is one thing all experts agree on: Vaccinating children should be based on rigorous evidence and we should set a particularly high bar for using vaccines in healthy children.

Like all vaccines, COVID vaccines can have the standard side-effects of a sore arm, fever or headaches, but these side-effects are mild and short-lived. There are also important concerns about one specific side effect that is crucial to recognize and fully understand: myocarditisor an inflammation of the heart muscle.

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Why Your Child Should Get Vaccinated

Vaccines can prevent infectious diseases that once killed or harmed many infants, children, and adults. Without vaccines, your child is at risk for getting seriously ill and suffering pain, disability, and even death from diseases like measles and whooping cough.

For parents who have questions about the schedule or wonder why its so important to follow, here are six reasons why you should vaccinate your child on time.

MEASLES:more than 1,200 cases of measles in 2019

It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it after it occurs.

• Vaccination is a highly effective, safe and easy way to help keep your family healthy.
• On-time vaccination throughout childhood is essential because it helps provide immunity before children are exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases.
• Vaccines are tested to ensure that they are safe and effective for children to receive at the recommended ages.

CDC Vaccine Information Statements explain both the benefits and risks of a vaccine. VISs are available for each vaccine.

Is It Morally Acceptable

One thing to bear in mind is who doesn’t get a vaccine if a child is given one instead.

The World Health Organization says wealthy countries should postpone their plans to immunise children and donate them to the rest of the world. Prof Andrew Pollard, who ran clinical trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, said it was “morally wrong” to prioritise children.

Prof Eleanor Riley, an immunologist at the University of Edinburgh, said: “There is a case for it and if there was unlimited supply of vaccine we could keep going with the over-12s, but there isn’t.

“Eventually it’s a political decision whether to prioritise our kids over adults dying in their droves elsewhere in the world.”

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It Could Save Your Childs Life

Lastly, but most importantly, not vaccinating your child puts them at a risk of death from a vaccine-preventable illness. Take measles, for example an illness thats largely controlled in the United States. It took 134,200 lives globally in 2015.9 The risk is very scarily real. The question you need to ask yourself is whether thats a risk worth taking.

What If My Child Can’t Be Vaccinated

Some children cannot receive certain vaccines due to allergic reactions or other medical conditions. Because they can’t be vaccinated, they are at risk of getting diseases that the vaccine would have protected them from.

You can help protect your children by encouraging those around your child to be up to date with their vaccination. Diseases that may not seem serious to adults can be very harmful to vulnerable children.

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Can My Child Get The Mmr And Other Vaccines If They Are Allergic To Eggs

The MMR vaccine can be given to children with an egg allergy. Only children that develop allergic shock when in contact with egg should avoid the MMR vaccination. Your child simply disliking eggs or having diarrhoea or stomach pains after eating eggs is not a reason to avoid it, and you do not need to take any special precautions. If you have any doubts, talk to the doctor or nurse giving the immunisation.

The flu vaccine should not be given to those who have a severe allergy to eggs.

What Are The Benefits Of Vaccinating Children

Then there are the other reasons for vaccinating. One of the biggest is that vaccinating reduces the chances of missing school due to illness. Most kids missed out on significant chunks of the school year in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. They have missed enough.

Along with this, children have missed socialising, exercising, playing, competing, learning and being active. Our two have missed swimming lessons, team sports, music classes and much more. We just want them to get on with it, uninterrupted by avoidable illness.

As a bonus, if reducing classroom outbreaks brings an end to mask-wearing for young children, it would be welcome. Masks are playing a role in reducing the spread of viruses in schools but this too comes with downsides in terms of communication.

And, of course, there is the added bonus of reducing the spread within our family and community. Children are, after all, the last major reservoir of unvaccinated individuals in society. Although we are mainly vaccinating our children for their own good, it is heartening to think rising rates of childhood vaccination will contribute to reducing the wider impact of the pandemic.

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How Many Shots Do Children Need

Although vaccines are combined to reduce the number of shots needed, the list is still long.

Here is a common immunization schedule recommended by age 2:

• One vaccination for measles, mumps, and rubella

• Four vaccinations for Haemophilus influenza , a common upper respiratory infection that can also cause meningitis

• Three to four polio vaccinations

• Four vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis

• Three vaccinations for hepatitis B

• One vaccination for varicella no earlier than age 12 months and only if your child does not develop chickenpox on his or her own

• Three vaccinations for rotavirus, a type of infection that causes severe diarrhea

• Four vaccinations for pneumococcal disease, a common cause of ear infections and pneumonia

From age 4 to 6, your child will need booster shots for DPT, IPV, MMR, and chickenpox. Children should also start receiving a yearly flu shot after age 6 months. A vaccination for hepatitis A is recommended for all children. This is a lot to keep track of and why you need an immunization records form.

But Treating A Vaccine

Think about the bigger picture: it costs far less to vaccinate your child than to bear the costs of treating the illness. Some illnesses may cause prolonged disabilities that could keep your child out of school and you away from work. The financial losses and costs associated with this, along with any costly medical bills, can be an enormous burden.7

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The Reasons Why Should Parents Vaccinate Their Child

• Words:682

Please note! This essay has been submitted by a student.

Imagine you are a parent, watching your child suffer and quickly deteriorate from a condition such as measles which could have been easily preventable. How would you feel knowing they might not survive due to your decision to not vaccinate them and should parents vaccinate their child ?

While the majority of children in NZ are fully vaccinated , vaccinations in NZ are not required by law and remain the individual choice of the parents, meaning there are a small number of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children. For example, in September 2019, the percentage of children not fully vaccinated was: 21% for 6 month old children, 9% for 2 year old children and 12% for 5 year old children. When children are not fully vaccinated, this leaves them and others at risk of contracting life-threatening diseases such as measles. Although some parents do not believe vaccinating their children is the best choice for them, there are a multitude of reasons why parents should vaccinate their children and organisations such as the World Health Organization, The New Zealand Ministry of Health and Plunket also agree.

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Children should be vaccinated because it protects them from serious diseases which can have life changing consequences and, in some cases, can result in loss of life.

Plunket recommends that children are vaccinated against 12 diseases.

Asthma Or Lung Conditions

Kids with asthma and other lung conditions should be first in line to get flu shots each yearthey are at higher risk for complications like pneumonia if they catch the flu.

But ask your healthcare provider whether they should avoid nasal versions of the flu vaccine. These vaccines contain live, weakened viruses, unlike the shot, which contains a dead virus. ” might cause an asthma flare,” Dr. Hertz said.

The CDC recommends against nasal spray vaccines for 2 to 4-year-olds with asthma or children with a history of wheezing in the past year. People over 4 with asthma should also check with their healthcare provider before getting a nasal spray vaccine.

However, these vaccines should be safe for children without asthma or lung conditions, according to Dr. Hertz. Research published in 2022 in Pediatrics also shows promising evidence that nasal spray vaccines may be safe for children with asthma.

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What’s The Difference Between A Live Or Killed Vaccine

Live and killed vaccine comparison

You Choose Not To Vaccinate Your Child And A Vaccine

• Consider changing your mind and protecting your child with a vaccine. Talk to your childs doctor or to someone at a public health clinic.
• Your child may be asked to stay away from school, child care or other organized activities. You will be advised when it is safe for your child to return. Be prepared to keep your child home for up to several weeks.
• Learn about the disease and how it spreads, although it may be impossible to avoid exposure.
• Each disease is different. The time between when your child may have been exposed and when he may get sick will vary. Talk to your childs doctor to find out when your child is no longer at risk of coming down with the disease.
• If you know that your child has been exposed to a vaccine-preventable disease, learn what symptoms to look for and get urgent medical care if these develop.
• Follow recommendations to separate your child from others, including family members especially newborn babies, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems or chronic diseases.

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Why Children Are Vaccinated At Such A Young Age

Children are vaccinated at a very young age because this is when they are most vulnerable to diseases. At this point their immune system is not developed enough to be able to fight serious infections.

The vaccination schedule is based on infants’ ability to create an immune response. Vaccines are given to protect them against 14 serious diseases at a time when they are most at risk.

Medical experts do not advise delaying or spreading out the recommended vaccines. This does not provide any added benefit to your child.