How to Respond When Patients Ask about Vaccines

by G. Richard Holt, MD, MSE, MPH, MABE, D Bioethics •

Dr. Holt is professor emeritus in the department of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Points to Address with Vaccine-Hesitant Parents

  • Vaccines are safe and effective, and serious disease can occur if your child and family are not immunized.
  • Vaccines are tested thoroughly before licensure, and vaccine safety assessment networks exist to monitor vaccine safety after licensure.
  • Nonmedical vaccine exemptions increase rates of unvaccinated children.
  • Unvaccinated children put vaccinated children and medically exempt children who live in that same area at risk.
  • The current vaccine schedule is the only one recommended by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics; alternative schedules have not been evaluated.

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics