The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is partnering with Voices for Vaccines during National Infant Immunization Week, April 24-30, to share resources and information about the role vaccines play in helping children and communities thrive.
“Everyone in our communities deserves to be healthy, and part of being healthy means getting vaccinated,” said AAP President Sandy Chung, MD, FAAP. “When everyone is vaccinated, it benefits all of us because it is harder for diseases to spread. Vaccinations are essential for infants, children and adolescents because they equip their immune systems to recognize and resist disease so they can develop and live healthy lives into adulthood.”
During the pandemic, some families faced challenges in getting all of the recommended vaccines for their children, which caused immunization rates to dip slightly. During the 2020-2021 school year, the CDC reported 94% of kindergarten students had received the recommended immunizations, down from 95%. That includes the vaccine for measles, a highly infectious disease that has caused recent outbreaks among unvaccinated children.
This year the AAP is partnering with Voices for Vaccines to share the stories of individual families about the role of immunizations in keeping their children healthy.
Heather Simpson, a parent from Texas who writes in a blog post for Voices for Vaccines about her journey as a parent who refused any vaccines, to someone who now advocates for all children to access immunizations.
"I understand how confusing misinformation can be," she said. "However, through my own experiences with the health care system and conversations with the doctors and nurses who cared for me, I came to understand the importance and value of vaccines. All parents are concerned about their children. I encourage doctors and others to not give up, to continue to listen and answer questions."
To help parents access accurate information about immunizations, the AAP offers a new interactive tool, Conversations About Vaccines, allowing parents to find answers to their vaccine questions, in English and Spanish. Additional resources include:
Editor’s Note: The AAP and Voices for Vaccines are offering interviews with pediatricians and families from your state. For more information about National Infant Immunization Week, or to set up an interview with a pediatrician or family, please contact the AAP and Voices for Vaccines.
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About the American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org and follow us on Twitter @AmerAcadPeds.
About Voices for Vaccines
Voices for Vaccines is a family-led organization that serves as a catalyst to spark positive peer-to-peer conversations about vaccines and the diseases they prevent by supporting communities, building networks, and developing fact-based content that enables parents to make healthy, informed decisions about vaccination for their children and their communities. For more information visit voicesforvaccines.org.