At Hilliard Pediatrics, our biggest goal is to provide the best possible, evidence-based healthcare to our patients and community. Because of this, we follow the AAP and CDC backed vaccination schedule, which is safe and effective at protecting our families from many preventable diseases. Vaccines are one of our greatest public health achievements, and have prevented many, many deaths, hospitalizations, and chronic complications.

We remember when admission for dehydration was routine from Rotavirus. We remember when septic joints and chest tubes were commonplace from Pneumococcal disease. We remember when airways might close off from Hemophilus. These illnesses are within our recent past, and incredibly uncommon now due to the power of vaccines.

Vaccines help our immune systems be ready to fight off germs, by teaching our bodies to recognize the illness faster and stronger than before. When the majority of people are vaccinated against a particular germ, that helps our communities have better group immunity and prevent spread of these diseases.

The timing of each vaccine is based on rigorous scientific studies from the country’s top researchers and scientists, which takes into account the maturity of the immune system as well as likelihood of coming into contact with these illnesses. Delaying vaccines or following alternate vaccine schedules can leave your baby vulnerable to serious diseases. There is no data to support spreading out or delaying vaccines as a safer alternative to the standard schedule.

Vaccines are rigorously tested for safety and effectivenes. The testing starts prior to the vaccine ever being given, and continues as long as it is available to patients and beyond.

Unfortunately, in recent years, vaccine misinformation has become increasingly available. Social media influencers, celebrities, and non-scientists have stated their opinions as fact without reliable evidence. The challenge is that deciphering real data from false information is hard! All parents want to do what is best for our kids, and your team at Hilliard Pediatrics wants what is best for your children as well. This is why we vaccinate our children just list we recommend you vaccinate yours.

If you would like more information on vaccines, here are some great websites which provide scientific-based information.

• Vaccineinformation.org - is a project of Immunize.org. This is a great starting point.  They have a get started section that breaks things down by age of the patient and then goes over some vaccination basics such as how vaccines work, importance of vaccines, and improving the vaccination experience.
• Healthychildren.org - This site is designed for parents and backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.  They have a ton of articles that address a variety of topics including the immunization schedule, information about the various vaccines, vaccine safety, and even some tips on handling a fear of needles.
• CDC Vaccine Page - CDC.gov/vaccines/ - This is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's dedicated page to vaccines for children. Discusses vaccine safety, side effects, recommended schedule, and more.  The CDC is part of the approval process for all vaccinations authorized for use in the United States.
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Vaccine Education Center - The Vaccine Education Center (VEC) was created to provide accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about vaccines and the diseases they prevent. Their goal is to communicate the facts about each vaccine as well as how vaccines are made, how and why vaccines work, who recommends them, whether they are safe, whether they are still necessary, and when they should be given.

We hope that if you have questions, you will allow us to discuss them with you so that we can keep our children and families as healthy and safe as possible. We will not judge and will always do our best to meet you where you are with the care of your children. Pediatricians care for kids!