Why Vaccinations are Important

What vaccinations are needed (.pdf)?

• Making sure your child receives recommended immunizations (shots) is an important part of keeping your child healthy. It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it.
• Vaccines work to protect infants, children, and adults from illnesses and death caused by infectious diseases. 
• Immunizations are an important safeguard against many serious diseases. 
• The U.S. currently has few cases of vaccine-preventable diseases, but the viruses and bacteria that cause them still exist. 
• Diseases that have been eliminated in this country, such as polio, are just a plane ride away.
• Infectious diseases can be passed on to people who are not protected by vaccines. 
• If a child is not vaccinated and is exposed to a disease germ, the child’s body may not be strong enough to fight the disease. 
• Before we had vaccines, many children died from diseases such as whooping cough, measles, and polio. Those same germs still exist today.

Successful immunization programs help to prevent these diseases. Keep a shot record for each child and take it with you to all medical appointments, even Urgent Care. Even if a child has a minor illness, they can still get the shots they need to be protected for life!