Home
>
Immunizations
>
Why get immunized?

Why get immunized?

Vaccination provides many important benefits that help keep people healthy, support the economy, and improve overall well-being in society.

Direct Health Benefits: Vaccines directly protect people from infectious diseases by helping their bodies build immunity. This means fewer people get sick or die from these diseases. For example, since 1974, vaccination programs have prevented about 154 million deaths worldwide, especially among infants and children. COVID-19 vaccines have also played a huge role in reducing hospital visits and deaths related to the virus.

Indirect Health Benefits: Vaccination helps create herd immunity, which protects those who can’t get vaccinated, like people with certain medical conditions. When a lot of people are vaccinated, it cuts down on the spread of diseases.

Economic Benefits: Vaccines can save a lot of money by preventing the costs that come with treating diseases. For example, a program in the U.S. called Vaccines for Children has stopped about 508 million illnesses and saved nearly $540 billion in direct healthcare costs since 1994.

Social Benefits: Vaccination leads to a better quality of life and makes communities more stable. It reduces the number of school days missed due to illness, boosts worker productivity, and helps the economy grow by keeping people healthy. Vaccination programs also make it easier for underserved groups to access lifesaving vaccines, promoting fairness in healthcare.

Great Reasons to Get Vaccinated

To Stay Healthy: Vaccines help protect you from serious diseases that can make you very sick. Getting vaccinated lowers your chance of catching illnesses like measles, flu, pneumonia and COVID-19.
To Stop the Spread: When you’re vaccinated, you’re less likely to get sick and pass diseases on to other people. This helps keep everyone around you safer.
To Protect Others: Some people can’t get vaccinated, like babies or people with certain health problems. When you get vaccinated, you help protect these people from getting sick.
To Save Money: Vaccines can help you avoid costly doctor visits and hospital stays by keeping you from getting sick in the first place.
To Avoid Serious Problems: Some diseases can lead to serious health issues or long-term problems. Vaccines help stop these serious problems from happening.
To Help Your Community: By getting vaccinated, you help fight diseases and keep your whole community healthy. This helps prevent big outbreaks and keeps everyone safer.
For Travel and Work Requirements: Sometimes, you need certain vaccines to travel to other countries or to start a job. Keeping up with your vaccinations helps you meet these requirements.

The Myths

There are many myths about vaccines that can make people unsure. Here are a few of these myths and the facts that clear them up:

Myth: Vaccines give you the diseases they’re supposed to prevent.
Fact: Vaccines don’t give you the diseases. They contain tiny, weakened, or inactive parts of the germs that cause the disease, which helps your body learn how to fight them off without making you sick.

Myth: Only kids need vaccines.
Fact: Vaccines are important for everyone, not just kids. Adults need vaccines too, like the flu shot and others that can protect you from diseases as you get older.

Myth: Natural immunity is better than vaccine immunity.
Fact: Getting sick to gain immunity can be risky and lead to serious health problems. Vaccines help your body build immunity safely, without making you sick.

Myth: Vaccines cause autism.
Fact: Multiple large studies have proven that vaccines do not cause autism. This myth started from an old, incorrect study that has been proven wrong.

Myth: You don’t need vaccines if you’re healthy.
Fact: Even healthy people need vaccines to stay protected. Vaccines help prevent diseases that can affect anyone, no matter how healthy they are.

Myth: Getting multiple vaccines weaken your immune system?
Fact: Getting multiple vaccines doesn’t weaken your immune system. In fact, vaccines help your immune system get stronger by teaching it how to fight off specific diseases. Your immune system can handle many vaccines at once, and they work together to keep you healthy.

Myth: Vaccines contain dangerous chemicals.
Fact: Vaccines do have small amounts of ingredients to make them work, but these are tested and proven to be safe. They are used in very tiny amounts, so they’re not harmful.

Myth: Vaccines have human or animal DNA in them.
Fact: No, vaccines don’t contain human or animal DNA. They might use tiny bits of these, to help make the vaccine, but these are not the same as whole DNA and it’s not in the final vaccine.

Myth: Vaccines are part of a conspiracy by drug companies.
Fact: Vaccines are made based on lots of scientific research and are checked for safety. Experts and health agencies review this research to make sure vaccines are safe and effective.

Myth: If others are vaccinated, you don’t need to be.
Fact: It’s important for everyone to get vaccinated. When more people are vaccinated, it helps protect everyone, especially those who can’t get vaccinated themselves.

Myth: Diseases are gone, so we don’t need vaccines anymore.
Fact: Vaccines have helped reduce many diseases, but they can come back if people stop getting vaccinated and outbreaks of preventable illnesses continue to occur in unvaccinated regions of the US each year. It’s important to keep up with vaccinations to keep these diseases from returning.