Vaccines are Important
for Everyone
It’s not just children who need vaccines. Adults and teens need vaccines too. But why vaccinate if you can run to the doctor or emergency room if you are sick? Prevention through vaccination means you don’t miss work or a family event, especially the ones that happen once like graduations and weddings. Prevention means you won’t pay money in medicines, visits to providers, or for tests. Prevention means you are less likely to get sick, have lasting damage, or die from disease. Vaccines have saved people from lasting damage that includes things like blindness, physical disability, and disfigurement. Most people have few if any, side effects or reactions to vaccines, but if you have questions about them, we welcome you to explore this website and other reputable sites such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH):
Three Things to
Remember About Vaccines
**If you have ever had a reaction to a vaccine or have a compromised immune system, please discuss all vaccines with your doctor.**
ONE.
Vaccines are considered to be safe and effective worldwide.
Your medical doctor will agree.
TWO.
They save millions of lives each year.
THREE.
Vaccines undergo thorough testing for safety to be sure they work. Even while they are in use, they are continually watched and tested.
How Vaccines Save Lives
Vaccines have played an instrumental role in transforming life, public health and shaping history. To say their impact has been profound is an understatement. Through disease prevention and global well-being, vaccines have changed lives and changed the world for the better.
Since at least the 15th century, people worldwide were intentionally exposed to disease in the hopes of building immunity. The first documentation of this is with smallpox (WHO). Smallpox killed millions of people until 1949 and often children were those most at risk. In more recent records, the CDC says 3 out of every 10 people died. Many smallpox survivors have permanent scars over large areas of their body, especially their faces. Some are left blind.
The modern impact of vaccines begins with the groundbreaking work of Edward Jenner, who pioneered the smallpox vaccine in the late 18th century. This milestone achievement marked the dawn of immunization, leading to the eventual global eradication of smallpox in 1980 and subsequent developments, such as the polio vaccine.
Polio was fearsome. Parents were deeply frightened for their children as it could kill or permanently disable and struck without warning. This virus changed people’s lives and behavior. Parents acted often in desperate need to protect their children. They sent their kids to the country and kept them out of pools and other gathering places. They also sent dimes to the White House hoping to fund a cure. Parents did anything they could without knowing if anything would help.
If you’ve ever heard of an iron lung, these were used notably with polio victims whose muscles used for breathing stopped working. The last man, Paul Alexander, who had polio and became dependent on an iron lung died in March of 2024. The Milwaukee Independent shares stories and photos of that time., Can you imagine their desperation? In 1955, the entire country celebrated the creation of a vaccine, and Jonas Salk, its inventor, became an overnight hero. By the 1960s there were more vaccines to protect us.
Recent advancements in vaccine technology, exemplified by the development of mRNA vaccines, have ushered in a new era of innovation. The rapid deployment of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines has highlighted the transformative potential of cutting-edge vaccine platforms, offering hope for more effective responses to emerging infectious threats.
The impact of vaccines on public health cannot be overstated. Vaccines have significantly reduced the burden of once-deadly diseases, prevented millions of deaths, and spared countless individuals from suffering.
There is still no cure for many of these devastating diseases, vaccines are all that keep us safe. Still, it is hard to imagine how devastating these diseases were because we now have routine vaccination in childhood. Now, we have flu, earaches, and broken bones to worry about. Before the various vaccines, parents worried about measles, mumps, chicken pox, tetanus, polio, and their results — disability, blindness, and death.
The history of vaccines is a testament to human ingenuity, perseverance, and compassion. Vaccines have truly been miraculous. Please vaccinate.
How Do Vaccines Work?
All vaccines teach our bodies how to fight specific illnesses. In small, controlled ways vaccines make your body think it is sick and tell your immune system to fight back. Later, if you are exposed to the actual virus, your body already knows how to fight it and keep it from making you ill. The differences between vaccines are how they trigger the small, controlled reactions. More information about vaccinations given in the U.S. can be found on the CDC website.
To learn more on the various types of vaccines, you can read here, or click the Vaccine Types button below.
Terms
You
Should
Know
Terms You Should Know
You can learn more about
vaccines and key words by visiting
the CDC’s Vaccine Glossary.
You can learn more about
vaccines and key words by visiting
the CDC’s Vaccine Glossary.
CELL:
All living creatures are made of building blocks called cells. Cells are the smallest structural units that form life.
VACCINE:
A substance that teaches your body to fight a disease.
IMMUNE RESPONSE:
The body’s response to fight sickness. This is what vaccines trigger that help develop a defense or fight against the sickness.
VIRUS:
A germ that gets into the body and forces cells to copy it and make more germs, so they increase in number and spread through the body. Viruses can make people sick. SARS-coV-2 is the name of the virus that causes COVID-19.
SIDE-EFFECT / REACTION:
A possible health problem or response to a medicine or vaccine. These reactions may not occur at all, may be minor, may be caused by vaccine/medicine, or may not be related.
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