Why Vaccines Are Important for Children: 5 Key Reasons
How vaccines protect children and communities
How vaccines protect children and communities
Key Takeaways
- Vaccines help prevent serious childhood illnesses.
- Vaccination helps protect vulnerable people.
- Vaccines are tested and monitored for safety.
- Staying up to date helps prevent outbreaks.
Childhood vaccines are one of the best ways to protect your child from serious illnesses and help keep your community healthy.
Vaccines have made diseases such as polio, measles and meningitis far less common and continue to save lives every day.
Many vaccines are given during well-child visits, giving your pediatrician a chance to review your child’s immunizations while also checking their growth, development and overall health.
Scripps pediatricians follow the vaccination schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The schedule is regularly updated based on the latest research and vaccine safety information.
Don’t delay or skip vaccinations
Delaying or skipping vaccinations can leave your child unprotected from diseases that may cause serious illness, hospitalization or even death. Measles, whooping cough and other vaccine-preventable diseases can spread quickly when vaccination rates are low.
If your child has missed a vaccine, it’s not too late to get back on schedule.
“If your child is due, or overdue, for vaccinations regardless of age, we urge you to make an appointment with your child’s doctor now,” says Erin O’Leary, MD, a pediatrician at Scripps Clinic Carmel Valley. “It is always better to prevent a disease than to try to treat it and its side effects after it occurs.”
Five key reasons to vaccinate your child
1. Vaccines protect the most vulnerable
Babies receive temporary antibodies during pregnancy but this protection fades over time. Because infants and young children can become seriously ill from certain infections, vaccinations begin early.
Vaccines teach a child’s developing immune system to recognize and fight germs. By age 2, children who follow the recommended vaccination schedule can be protected against more than a dozen serious diseases.
“It’s crucial to maintain your child’s immunizations,” adds Dania Lindenberg, MD, a pediatrician at Scripps Coastal Medical Center Hillcrest. “Physicians are better able to diagnose a child who has symptoms of an illness when they know what the child has been vaccinated for already.”
2. Vaccines help protect your community
Vaccinating your child also helps protect people who are more likely to develop life-threatening complications, including:
- Babies too young for certain vaccines
- Children who cannot receive certain vaccines for medical reasons
- Children with weakened immune systems, including some undergoing cancer treatment
When more people are vaccinated, germs are less likely to spread. This protection, often called community or herd immunity, helps protect everyone.
3. Vaccines are carefully tested and monitored
Vaccines go through extensive testing before approval. Health agencies continue to monitor their safety after they become available to the public.
Most vaccines side effects, such as soreness, redness or swelling at the injection site, are mild and temporary. Serious reactions, including a severe allergic reaction, are rare. Decades of research have found no credible link between vaccines and autism.
It’s normal for parents to have questions about childhood vaccine safety.
“If you have questions about vaccine safety, get information from a trusted source, like your primary care doctor,” Dr. Lindenberg says.
Your pediatrician can review your child's immunization records and recommend vaccines based on their age and health. These may include:
- Routine vaccines, such as DTaP, polio, MMR, hepatitis A and B and varicella, also known as chickenpox
- An annual flu vaccine starting at 6 months
- The HPV vaccine series, starting at age 9
- COVID-19 vaccination based on current recommendations
4. Vaccine-preventable diseases can cross borders
Whooping cough (pertussis), measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases are much less common in the United States than they once were, but they have not disappeared.
Measles is still common in many parts of the world and can spread to U.S. communities through international travel. Because measles is one of the most contagious viruses, even a single case can quickly lead to an outbreak in areas with lower vaccination rates. Recent outbreaks have led to the highest U.S. measles case counts in decades, highlighting the importance of staying up to date on the MMR vaccine.
Vaccines have helped eliminate or dramatically reduce many infectious diseases worldwide. Smallpox is the only human infectious disease to be eradicated worldwide. Polio has been nearly eliminated but outbreaks still occur in some countries, making continued vaccination essential to prevent these diseases from returning.
5. Vaccines protect future generations
Vaccines have made many diseases that once harmed or killed thousands of children in the U.S. rare. Keeping vaccination rates high helps prevent these diseases from returning and protects future generations.
Vaccines are also a good investment in your child's health. Preventing illness can save your family time and money by reducing medical bills, missed school days and lost time at work.
Keep your child healthy this school year
Back-to-school season is a good time to check your child’s immunization record. If you are not sure which vaccines your child needs or your child has fallen behind, contact your pediatrician. Most children can follow a catch-up schedule. They do not need to restart a vaccine series.
Scripps HealthExpress also offers select vaccines on a walk-in basis. Age, eligibility and vaccine availability vary by location, so check before visiting.