Even though vaccines come fully recommended by your child’s pediatrician, it's understandable to wonder about the possible risks.
But vaccines exist to protect children and communities. In fact, if it weren’t for vaccinations, many diseases — like smallpox, polio, diphtheria, rubella and mumps — would circulate more than they do today. Other immunizations — such the COVID-19 vaccine and flu shot — help ward off commonly transmitted viruses.
Still, it’s normal to have concerns, especially these days, when you’re likely to come across unsettling stories on the internet or even have a family member or friend try to convince you that immunizations are risky or dangerous.
The good news is that these concerns are completely unfounded. What’s more, you shouldn’t let them stop you from sticking with the recommended vaccine schedule.
Here’s what every parent should know about how vaccines keep children safe, plus the myths that you should never believe.
How do vaccines protect children?
Vaccines safeguard your child’s health by protecting her against harmful, potentially life-threatening diseases. While no vaccine is foolproof, the risk that your child will contract a disease after being immunized is greatly lowered.
But vaccines don’t just go a long way towards keeping your child healthy. Immunizing your little one also keeps other kids from getting sick, and vice versa. And if everyone was vaccinated, outbreaks could be prevented altogether.
Last but not least, vaccines ensure a safer future for everyone. Over time, widespread immunization can make a disease so rare that it officially becomes medical history. When you take your child for her shots, you're doing your small part to protect the health of your grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond.
Myth: Giving multiple vaccines at once — either during the same visit or in a combo shot — isn’t safe.
Reality: Combo immunizations mean fewer shots for kids overall and make it easier to stay on schedule.
More vaccines are being given as combos these days, like the one that combines DTaP, polio and hepatitis B in a single shot. Combo shots offer the same protection as individual shots, and they’ve gone through the same rigorous testing and approval process to ensure that they're safe.
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And of course, there are systems in place to watch for any serious reactions that might occur.
Speaking of reactions, the side effects are usually mild. Combo vaccines might cause a little more pain or swelling at the injection site, but they're well worth it since your child will have to sit through fewer shots overall.
Myth: Herd immunity means that my child can’t get sick.
Reality: Think you don’t have to vaccinate your child as long as everyone else gets their shots? You're risking your little one’s health — and the health of others.
If your child as well as others aren’t getting immunized, it sets the stage for a potential outbreak. And she could infect others, too — even those who are immunized, since immunization doesn’t offer 100 percent protection against a disease. (The 2019 measles outbreak in Disneyland, for instance, occurred because a high enough percentage of families had opted out of the MMR vaccine.)
The numbers speak for themselves: If 80 percent of a population has been immunized against a virus, four out of five people who are exposed to a disease probably won’t get sick. But one still will. But if everyone in a population has been immunized, the chances of someone even being exposed in the first place become extremely low.
Finally? Keep in mind that herd immunity doesn’t work for diseases like tetanus, which aren’t transmitted from person to person. An unvaccinated child could get tetanus from stepping on a rusty nail, for instance.
Myth: Vaccines have already wiped out childhood diseases.
Reality: Many of those diseases are still out there. Vaccines have just made them much rarer.
If your child isn't immunized, she's at increased risk for getting sick. Multiple mumps and whooping cough outbreaks have occurred in the U.S. in recent years.
There's also the fact that diseases that are rare in the U.S. are still widespread in other countries where vaccines aren’t prevalent. Which means they're only a plane ride away, and can still pose a risk to unvaccinated kids.
Finally, many vaccine-preventable diseases pose the most danger when children are very young. So if an outbreak does occur and your child isn’t immunized, she's at higher risk for serious complications or even dying.
Myth: One vaccine in a series gives a child enough protection.
Reality: Top disease experts have studied exactly how many doses are needed in order to provide the most protection.
For some vaccines, it takes more than one shot to build up enough immunity to protect against a disease, as well as boost immunity that can fade and provide immunity from germs that change over time, like the flu or COVID-19.
If a vaccine calls for multiple rounds of a shot, a child who gets just one round won't receive full immunity — and is still at a higher risk for contracting the disease.
That’s why it's so important to make sure your child gets all of the doses in a vaccine series at the recommended intervals. Skipping out on even one could leave her unprotected and put her at risk for getting seriously sick.
Myth: Multiple vaccines for young children put them at increased risk for other diseases.
Reality: There's no evidence that giving children multiple vaccines makes them more likely to get any illness.
There's no connection between the administration of multiple vaccines and an increased likelihood of getting allergies, diabetes, infectious disease or any other illness.
Remember, vaccines are given to young children precisely because they’re at risk for getting seriously ill or dying from a disease. Receiving multiple shots doesn’t increase your child’s chances of getting sick — it greatly lowers them.
Myth: Shots are very painful for a baby.
Reality: The brief pinch she feels is far less painful than what she (and you) would go through if she got sick.
There;s no denying that seeing your baby cry from a shot can be hard. But there are things you can do to make the shot easier on your little one.
Babies who are being held during a shot and who are breastfed immediately before or after a shot experience less pain, studies show. And don't discount simple distraction: Sometimes a toy, book or a comfort object can take your baby’s focus off the hurt.
You can also ask your pediatrician about other options to ease your baby's discomfort.
Lastly, the desire to minimize painful shots for your baby makes another case for the benefit of combination vaccines. Getting immunized for multiple diseases in one go means fewer needles — and ouchies — overall.
Myth: Parents should be concerned about mercury in vaccines.
Reality: The concern about mercury stems from thimerosal, and all routine vaccines are thimerosal-free except for some flu shots.
Thimerosal, a mercury-containing compound, prevents the growth of harmful bacteria and fungus. It was once used as a preservative in some vaccines to protect against contamination.
But most childhood vaccines, including MMR, IPV, varicella and PCV, never contained thimerosal to begin with. And since 2001, all routine vaccines are thimerosal-free with the exception of some flu vaccines that come from multi-dose vials.
Keep in mind that the decision to remove thimerosal from vaccines wasn’t prompted by studies showing that the compound is dangerous to kids. Instead, it was made as a precaution to reduce infants' exposure to mercury overall.
For thimerosal still used in flu vaccines, the amount is extremely small, and research has repeatedly proven that it’s not harmful. (In fact, the amount of mercury in your child’s flu vaccine leaves her body faster than the mercury found in fish.)
If thimerosal in your child’s flu vaccine still makes you uncomfortable, don't let it stop you from getting her seasonal shot. Thimerosal-free flu vaccines are available, so ask the pediatrician if that's an option for your baby.
Myth: Vaccines cause autism and other developmental disorders.
Reality: Despite the continued spread of misinformation, childhood vaccines do not cause autism.
This finding has been shown in multiple large-scale studies, which have been compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for parents to read the evidence for themselves.
If you’re wondering how the vaccine-autism scare came about to begin with, it all started in 1998 when a small study published in The Lancet suggested a possible link between the MMR shot and autism. In 2010, The Lancet retracted the study. The doctor who conducted the study had his medical license revoked for fudging the data, manipulating the study outcomes and misreporting the results.
The highly flawed study was declared an "elaborate fraud" by the British Medical Journal in 2011. And in 2019, a decade-long study looking at over 650,000 children found no link between autism and MMR.
In other words, there's no credibility to the myth that vaccines cause autism.
Myth: Preemie babies are too fragile to get vaccinated.
Reality: Regardless of your preemie's "birth age" or weight, it’s perfectly safe for her to get vaccinated.
Not only are vaccines safe for preemies, they’re incredibly important. Compared to their full-term counterparts, premature babies are even more vulnerable to the diseases that vaccines protect against. And if they do get sick, they’re at higher risk for complications. There's no need to adjust the vaccine schedule to her "birth age" or wait until she gets bigger, and she’s not at increased risk for any side effects.
The one sometimes-exception is the hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine. Preemies weighing at least 4 pounds. and 6 ounces should get their first HBV shot shortly after birth, just like full-term infants. But for babies weighing less than that, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends waiting until the preemie reaches 1 month of age or is discharged from the hospital, whichever comes first.
Your pediatrician will determine when your baby should get her first HBV shot and when the subsequent ones will be administered.
Myth: Vaccines often cause allergic reactions.
Reality: Vaccines have the potential to cause allergic reactions, but it's extremely rare.
Vaccine-related allergic reactions occur in around one out of a million people, so the possible risk isn’t a good reason to skip out on shots.
If your child does have an allergic reaction to an immunization, it would likely happen within 30 minutes of the shot being administered, and her doctor could treat it with steroids or epinephrine. If that happened, your doctor would likely recommend against giving your child additional doses of the vaccine.
Of course, if your baby has a known allergy to any common vaccine ingredients — like yeast, eggs, latex, gelatin or neomycin — you should let the doctor or nurse know before it’s time for your little one to get her shot.
Depending on the severity of the allergy, your baby's pediatrician might opt to not give a certain vaccine. But that's not always the case. For instance, children with egg allergies are often still able to safely receive a seasonal flu shot.
Ultimately, the risk of having an allergic reaction to a vaccine is very, very low. If your child has a known allergy to something in an upcoming vaccine, bring it up with her doctor, but don’t automatically assume all shots are off the table. In some cases, your baby may still be able to receive certain immunizations.
Myth: My child shouldn’t get vaccinated if she has a cold.
Reality: Symptoms like a runny nose, cough or low fever aren’t usually reasons to put off a shot. Neither is taking antibiotics.
Vaccines won't make a mild illness worse, and they won't keep the vaccine from being effective. (And considering how often little ones get sick, rescheduling a vaccine because of a mild cold could very well throw off your child’s vaccine schedule.)
If your baby is dealing with something more serious, like a high fever, it might be worth holding off on the shot until she's feeling better. Since her immune system is already battling an illness, getting a vaccine on top of that could affect how her body responds to the shot.
In either case, it's worth giving her pediatrician a call before bringing your baby in for her vaccine. Based on your sweetie's symptoms, the doctor can determine whether delaying the shot makes sense. And you can set up another appointment right then and there, so it doesn't fall through the cracks.
The bottom line? Vaccines protect children and communities from serious and even life-threatening illnesses. And they work best when everyone receives them, in the recommended number of doses and on the recommended timetable.
Of course, it’s normal to have questions about your child’s shots. But don’t let those stop you from having her vaccinated. Instead, voice any concerns you have with her pediatrician. He or she will be able to share the facts — and hopefully, put your mind at ease.
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