We’re so grateful to Gabrielle, of Suburban Fashionista, for partnering with us to share her family’s story! View Gabrielle’s full blog post here.
I vaccinate my family and myself to not only protect us but protect everyone we come in contact with like the elderly, babies who are too young to get vaccinated, or those with weakened immune systems. Last year I had fallen behind on my boys getting their vaccine and in turn Gabriel had came home with the flu from one of his classmates. That’s why now I am staying up to date with making sure my whole household is up to date of vaccinations. According to Michigan Care Improvement Registry data from September 2020, only 55.8% of Michigan toddlers are up to date on all of their recommended vaccinations.
As a mother I weigh the risk and benefits of any decision I make for my children, and of course that included choosing to vaccinate. Happy to say that vaccinating my boys is one of the safest and most effective things I can do to protect them. While doing a little of my own research on ivaccinate.org I learned that by the time vaccines are offered to the public it has been studied for at least 15-20 years in tens of thousands of study participants, by thousands of scientists, statisticians and health care providers. Sometimes we hear false information or get it from unreliable sources and we pass that information like a bad game of telephone.
Although vaccines have been around quite some time, it may be new to you and your family or you may not know all the information you feel you need to make a decision. That’s normal to have questions, it makes you a good parent! Just make sure you are getting answers from a credible source. I recommend talking to your child’s doctor and explore resources like I did at ivaccinate.org. That way you can learn just how safe and effective vaccines can actually be.