Immunization is meaningful to me because vaccines are among the safest medical products available and can prevent the suffering and costs associated with infectious diseases. It’s not only important to stay healthy to protect yourself, but also to protect your children, your grandchildren, coworkers, and the older people in your life, too. Without, immunization, I would have to miss work leaving those unable to care for themselves and depend on me in everyday life. Vaccinations from birth through adulthood provide a lifetime of protection against many diseases and infections. During the 20th century, many infectious diseases-that killed thousands of people each year-were either eliminated or controlled by immunizations in the United States.
Unlike some countries, immunization is not mandatory, in Canada; it cannot be made mandatory because of the Canadian Constitution. Only three provinces have legislation or regulations under their health-protection acts to require proof of immunization for school entrance. Requiring proof of immunization for school entrance serves two main purposes. First, parents who have forgotten to have their children properly immunized will be reminded and can rectify the situation. Second, parents who do not wish to have their children immunized must actively refuse and sign documents attesting to that fact. In some provinces and territories, the public health-care system administers immunization programs; infants and children receive their vaccinations at public-health clinics. In other provinces and territories, vaccinations are primarily given by private physicians who order vaccines from local public-health units.
This information has a great impact on my future work because an unvaccinated person is a threat to people. Diseases do not stop at the borders. People can bring vaccine preventable diseases into our country and spread them to people who are not vaccinated. Our society depends on everyone working together to ensure that all of us can be safe. One of the ways we can play our part is to make sure that your family gets the right shots at the right time. Shots may hurt a…little, but the disease they can prevent can hurt a lot more.
I agree that immunizations are very important. With recent claims of links to Autism, many parents are choosing not to vaccinate or to delay scheduled doses. This becomes concerning when the population of unvaccinated grows.
ReplyDeleteDeborah,
ReplyDeleteI also agree that immunizations are very important and I feel that immunizations should be mandatory. I had a student in my class a few years ago, who's parents refused to have immunized and signed the waivers stating that they did not want their child immunized, however the child got really sick with high fever and the doctors told the parents that the child had measles and some type of fever and that it all could have been prevented,if the child had been immunized. Once the child was well, they had the child immunized.
Like you I agree immunization are very important for public health. I run into this issue, parents not wanting to vaccinate due to religious reasons, alot in our area. We explain that they put their child and themselves at risk when they refuse to get immunizations. One parent recently asked me about the link to Autism and immunizations. We researched it together and she saw for herself that this has been repeatedly refuted. Afterwards, she felt more comfortable vaccinating her child.
ReplyDeleteImmunization can save a person's life, I know there was a big scare with the H1N1 last year, but we have to look at the big picture. In order for a child to participate in any of our youth programs, they have to have all their required shots. We've had a few families come and say, their child is "homeschooled" and they don't need their shots, but we inform them that in order to utalize our programs, they must have their shots. Sometimes it gets a little frustrating, because I just want to say that you are hurting your child and others by not getting them.
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