There has been a lot of news about vaccines and the recent changes in vaccine recommendations by certain federal agencies. Many patients and parents have a lot of questions about vaccines and these changes in vaccine recommendations.
I have been a pediatrician for nearly 30 years, and I have personally seen how vaccinations prevent illness and suffering during my career. For example, I have never seen a case of a serious brain infection (HIB meningitis) because the vaccine for this disease came out around 1990. Prior to this vaccine being available, this type of meningitis caused severe brain damage, permanent deafness and blindness, paralysis, and death in many infants and younger children.
Chicken pox is another example of the effectiveness of vaccines. At the beginning of my career, I saw kids with chicken pox a few times every month. Since the varicella vaccine became widely available in the late 1990s, disease from chicken pox is now very rare – the last case I saw was about six years ago, and many younger providers have never seen chicken pox at all.
Other serious diseases such as polio have been nearly eliminated in our country because of vaccines. Vaccines for HPV and COVID-19 have also reduced these infections and illnesses.
Unfortunately, we have also seen what happens when vaccines are not used. For the last few years, measles disease has dramatically increased in our state and country because of declining rates of MMR vaccinations.
We know from extensive testing and real-world experience that vaccines are effective in protecting us from diseases. Vaccines are also extremely safe – in fact, vaccines are among the safest medications that we use in our medical care. All vaccines are tested to extremely high standards for safety. In addition, vaccines are constantly monitored for safety even after they are approved for use. Many OTC medications (such as Tylenol and OTC cold medications) and other drugs are regulated at a much lower safety standard, and these cause more frequent harm than vaccines.
To be clear, vaccines are not perfect – there can be rare side effects, and people can sometimes catch diseases even if vaccinated. However, vaccines are still the best way to reduce the risk of infection and reduce the severity of an illness. One analogy is wearing seat belts while riding in a car. I am old enough to remember when seat belts were considered optional and when many people did not want to use seat belts. Today, seat belts are universally recommended because they are proven to reduce serious injury and death in car crashes. However, seat belts only work if they are used before the car crash happens. Just like seat belts, vaccines only work when they are given before a person is exposed to that disease.
Vaccines are one of the best ways to protect ourselves, our children, our families, and our communities from these serious contagious diseases. If you have any questions about vaccines or the safety of vaccines, I encourage you to speak with your personal health care provider.
