According to research conducted by the WHO, vaccine hesitancy is one of the world’s top 10 global health threats of 2019. Vaccine hesitancy refers to the refusal or reluctance to vaccinate, despite the access and availability of vaccines. In spite of the fact that vaccines can play a vital role in preventing various diseases in children, many parents are expressing doubts about vaccines and some choose to delay their kids’ immunizations.
Studies have been conducted to find out the reasons behind this vaccine hesitancy and they have found the following reasons:
1. Religious Reasons -
The most common reason given by parents refusing to vaccinate their child is due to religious reasons. These parents are not in favour of the animal-derived gelatine and human fetal tissue being used in many vaccines, and so they choose not to vaccinate their babies.
2. Personal Beliefs -
Another set of parents believe that a child’s natural immunity is better acquired immunity and is better in protecting children from diseases. Some parents also believe that contracting a disease is beneficial for the child, as it can enhance the child’s immunity as one grows into an adult.
3. Additional Information -
Some parents wish to get more information about vaccines so that they can be completely sure before administering the vaccines to their children. Many parents felt that their child’s healthcare provider could not provide complete information regarding the importance of the vaccine, and they didn’t feel convinced. They often thought that doctors and nurses were pushy about vaccinating kids but had no apparent reasons for the same.
4. Safety -
The greatest reason why parents hesitate to get their kids vaccinated is due to their concern for the safety of vaccines. Many parents learn about the side effects of vaccines, and this makes them refuse to vaccinate their children.
5. Discomfort -
Some parents consider the vaccines unnecessary because they think that vaccines are only causing discomfort to their child. Also, vaccine-preventable diseases have become very rare nowadays, and this makes parents believe that vaccines are not required.
Having said that, there is no denying the fact that vaccines are of utmost importance for the health and wellbeing of children.
Here are 4 reasons why your child must be vaccinated:
Immunizations can prevent your child from contracting a number of serious diseases, which may even be life-threatening.
Childhood vaccines help to build herd immunity. When a sufficient amount of people are vaccinated, they are immune to a particular infection, and this prevents others from being infected too.
Vaccinations are actually effective and work since they are developed after a lot of research by doctors and scientists after a lot of testing.
Immunizations can help to save a lot of time, money and stress. Children who have not been vaccinated can be denied admission into schools and if a child contracts a vaccine-preventable disease, he/she may have to suffer from many other problems such as disability.
Thus, there are several reasons: religious, personal, lack of information, safety concerns, discomfort, etc., due to which parents refuse to immunise their children. Moreover, Immunisation can prevent a child from contracting several serious diseases. The government needs to spread awareness regarding the benefits of immunisation so that more people can immunise their children.
