Why Parents Shouldn’t Delay Childhood Immunizations

CLEVELAND – With the new year underway, now is a good time for parents to check with their pediatrician about childhood immunizations.

According to Kimberly Giuliano, MD, pediatrician with Cleveland Clinic Children’s, there has been a noticeable decline with some vaccines, and the pandemic is partially to blame.

“The other challenge that we’re starting to see is growing misinformation about vaccines, and people’s hesitancy and concerns about the vaccines,” said Dr. Giuliano. “And some of the vaccine-concerned groups getting their message out more loudly and more clearly; that’s causing some parents to take a pause.”

Dr. Giuliano said all of the childhood immunizations that are administered have been around for years and are proven safe.

She said by not giving your child the necessary vaccines, you’re not only putting them at risk for infection, but it can also be life-threatening.

Not to mention, diseases like the measles and mumps, which have largely been dormant thanks to immunizations, could resurface.

She said her best advice for parents is to be mindful of where they are getting their information and to only trust reliable medical resources.

“We know what these vaccines do, we know that they save lives, and we know the risk of a child having a serious complication from a vaccine is almost non-existent,” said Dr. Giuliano. “We see common side effects like fussiness, fever, irritability and those go away, but the impacts of some of these diseases don’t go away.”

Dr. Giuliano also notes that an unvaccinated child could also risk getting others sick, like an infant who hasn’t been able to get all of their vaccines or someone who is immunocompromised.