Smallpox, an acute contagious disease that caused millions of death, is now forever confined to 19th century novels thanks to vaccinations. Many other deadly diseases like measles, mumps and rubella are almost eradicated entirely thanks to vaccinations again.
But over the years, the list of recommended vaccines and baby vaccination charts has kept growing more and more, some of the vaccines even garnered controversy over their safety. This has left many new parents overwhelmed and wondering “Why would my child need 35 vaccines before the age of five?” and results in them skipping some vaccines for their child that was due to them at their age.
Missing a vaccine may not feel like a bad thing, nobody wakes up the next morning and goes “OH NO! My body is disappearing because I didn’t take my 5-year vaccine!” Yet, it’s more serious than that.
We are writing this blog to help you understand the importance of vaccinations and how it helps protect your child and the generations to come.
• Immunizations can save your child’s life
You may wonder why your baby needs vaccination so soon after their birth, but rest assured in knowing that they are made with your baby’s young immune system in mind. They trigger your baby’s immunity system to produce antibodies to fight off various diseases and illnesses that their immune system is not yet prepared for.
70 years ago, polio paralyzed and killed thousands of children. But with two decades of active vaccination drives, India received ‘Polio-free certification’ from the World Health Organization in 2014. Hurray!
With the advancement in medical science, your child can be protected from more deadly diseases than ever before!
• Vaccination is very safe and effective
Before the vaccines reach your baby, they go through long and careful testing by scientists and doctors. Any reactions they may cause like redness and swelling at the site of injection, loss of appetite, muscle pain and fever are nothing when compared to the pain and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent your child from.
• Immunization protects others you care about
Vaccines protect not only your child, but the other children too. Some vaccines may not be suitable for certain children because they might be allergic to the vaccine or because they are below a certain age. But, when a pandemic or epidemic breaks out, these children will be the most vulnerable.
To help keep the children safe, it is important that you and your child who can be vaccinated are fully immunized. This prevents the spread of disease from you and protects those children and others you care about from the spreading disease.
• Immunizations can save your family time and money
Some of the diseases that can be prevented with vaccines can result in permanent disabilities and can take a financial toll on your family. As we just witnessed recently during the Covid-19 pandemic, a person without the necessary vaccination can be denied admittance in public places, like schools and work places, and can result in lost time that can never be recovered.
Moreover, In India, every citizen irrespective of their income status are entitled to free vaccination to make sure that every child is fully vaccinated! So it’s a win-win situation all around, no excuses for you to skip them.
• Immunization protects future generations
Vaccines have even completely eradicated some diseases from the face of earth: Smallpox and Rinderpest. Children don’t get smallpox vaccines anymore because the disease itself doesn’t exist! By vaccinating your child and this generation completely, we may be able to eradicate yet another disease for the future generations!
Science has worked long and hard to ensure that vaccines are safe for your child and skipping them can only do you harm in the long run. You can search and learn more about vaccinations for certain ages by simply looking up ‘vaccination chart for babies in India’. It clearly details every vaccine your child will need till the age of 16.
Another reason why parents skip vaccines is because they dread the needles. We normally think of vaccines as painful shots, but not every vaccine is given through injections, some early vaccines are given orally. So you don’t have to worry a lot about seeing your little one in distress.
But the good news is that the painful shot itself will only last a few seconds, but that one little ‘ouch!’ moment will protect your child for a long, long time to come!
