Most famiiles are vaccinating, with some hesitation

Most kids are getting vaccinations on schedule, but that doesn’t make parents feel any better about it. There are still lingering fears that the shots and/or the shot schedule is contributing to the increase in autism and other learning disabilities. The basic safety and necessity of the shots continue to be questioned.

A small survey of 376 US household found that most have concerns about the shots and at least 5% will veer off the schedule and skip a few.

“The good news is that almost all parents are getting their children vaccinated. But that doesn’t necessarily mean all parents have a high level of confidence in those vaccines,” Allison Kennedy, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and advocate for immunizations.

It doesn’t look like lingering concerns about vaccinations and their disputed connection to various diseases including autism have been curbed in spite of several studies discrediting such a theory.

Other parents questioned whether or not the vaccines had been adequately tested. Some worried that the vaccine may in fact cause the disease and still others asserted that their children would not be exposed to the diseases and therefore are not threatened by them.

The survey showed 2% of families had no intention of getting their kids vaccinated while 5% were going to customize the schedule to suit their beliefs and lifestyle. The main reason for holding back was that the schedule was too aggressive, occurring while children were too young and also that they may contribute to learning disabilities.

The CDC and the National Academies of Sciences are calling for a national communications campaign to increase confidence in vaccines.

But with 95-98% of all families fully vaccinating one must wonder how much better it could be.

Source: CDC, Reuters