SANDERS COURT PEDIATRICS VACCINE POLICY STATEMENT
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2017
As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating your child according to the schedule published by the CDC is absolutely necessary to protect all children and young adults. When you do not vaccinate, you take a significant risk with your child’s health and the health of others around them. Much of the protection provided by vaccines comes from herd immunity. Most vaccines produce immunity in 90-95% of children. The remaining 5-10% of children who do not produce immunity are protected by herd immunity, meaning that a highly vaccinated population limits the spread of most infections. As more people choose to not vaccinate, herd immunity is eroded. By not vaccinating, you take selfish advantage of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children.
At Sanders Court Pediatrics:
-We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and save lives.
-We firmly believe in the safety of vaccines.
-We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
-We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence, and current studies, that vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.
-We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention that we perform as health care providers, and that you can perform as parents/caregivers. The recommended vaccines and vaccine schedule are the results of years and years of scientific study and data gathered on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.
-We firmly believe that public health policy excluding un-vaccinated children from school is appropriate for a school setting, and is also appropriate for our office setting. The sickest children are seen in a doctor’s office and can be a source of spread of infectious disease to patients.
Also, please be advised that delaying or spreading out the vaccines goes against expert recommendations, and can put your child at risk for serious illness or even death. If a parent or caregiver elects to only give a certain number of vaccines at a time, they must come into the office at weekly intervals to stay within the recommended time frame for the vaccines per the CDC schedule.
We recognize that vaccinating your child may be a very emotional subject for some parents. We will do everything we can to convince you that vaccinating according to schedule is medically necessary. Children who are currently behind on vaccines will be given a 6 month grace period to catch up. Newborns entering the practice will complete the first round of recommended vaccines by 16 weeks of age. If, despite our recommendations, you feel that you cannot follow the schedule of the CDC and AAP we will ask you to find another health care provider. We do not keep a list of such providers, nor would we recommend any such physician/health care provider.
Thank you for taking the time to read this policy. Please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any of our health care providers.