Your child receives many vaccines from birth through their teen years. These vaccines not only give them essential protection against serious illnesses, but many are also mandatory for your child to participate in activities like attending school.
With rare exceptions, our team at Valencia Pediatrics in Victorville, California, requires all our patients to receive vaccines on the schedule prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Find out from family board-certified pediatricians Rainilda Valencia, MD, and Deepika Saini, MD, FAAP, why childhood vaccines are important and if any are optional.
During the first few months of life, your child receives protection against viruses from maternal antibodies. Once that protection wears off, they need vaccines to avoid getting various dangerous diseases.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends children follow a vaccine schedule to achieve maximum protection. The schedule begins at birth and continues into your child’s teen years and adulthood.
Getting vaccinated is quick, safe, and effective for almost every child. Vaccination is a simple process and carries no side effects except minor soreness and redness at the injection site.
No vaccines are mandated nationally for children and adults, but the majority of children need to receive vaccines to participate in some aspects of public life. For example, your child needs to receive certain vaccines to enroll in a public school in California.
Some countries require your child to receive vaccines to travel there, and some private organizations make vaccines mandatory for your child to be involved.
A few vaccines aren’t standard for children in the United States. For example, children in America only receive the yellow fever vaccine when they travel to a country where yellow fever is prevalent, and they only get the rabies vaccine if they’re exposed to an animal suspected to have rabies.
However, almost all children must receive all the vaccines on the CDC schedule at the correct time. Getting these vaccines on schedule is essential for their health.
A few children aren’t able to get vaccines for medical reasons. Talk to our team to see if your child can safely get vaccinated if:
If your child can’t safely get vaccinated, they can get a medical exemption to attend school or other activities. Our team advises your family on how to keep your child safe from illness if they’re unable to get vaccinated.
As part of our duty to keep your child safe, our team requires all other children attending Valencia Pediatrics to have all the vaccines as recommended by the CDC. If your child is new to our practice and behind on any vaccines, we can help them catch up.
When given on the schedule recommended by the CDC, vaccines are safe for your child and protect them from harm. If you have any questions about vaccines or want to schedule a vaccination appointment for your child, contact our office today.
