Vaccines Are Safe, Effective, and Save Lives

Posted on

Aug 24, 2021

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Vaccines have been held up as one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine. Not only do they greatly reduce the suffering and death caused by illness, they reduce the cost of care significantly by preventing the need in the first place.

Examples range from what is generally considered childhood diseases such as polio and measles, to diseases such as influenza and pertussis (whooping cough) that affect people of all ages. Vaccines that prevent the childhood disease chicken pox also prevents adult from developing shingles since both come from the same virus, varicella-zoster. Another vaccine, theHPV vaccine, prevents multiple forms of cancer.

In some cases, diseases have all but disappeared thanks to strenuous vaccination efforts. You rarely hear of smallpox, diphtheria, or rubella today thanks to vaccines.






Vaccine development and safety

Development of vaccines have been a discussion of conversation lately with the rapid introduction of the COVID vaccines. What has typically been a multi-year process has been compressed into an incredible 12 months, said Tamara Sheffield, MD, medical director for Intermountain Healthcare Community Health and Prevention.

Dr. Sheffield, who works closely with state and federal partners on vaccine practices and guidelines, said the process has been sped up but steps werent skipped nor was safety compromised.

The same phased trials have been conducted around the world, involving tens of thousands of people, that would be conducted with any vaccine, said Dr. Sheffield.

Weve seen the same development hurdles and challenges for COVID that weve seen for shingles, influenza, or other vaccines, said Dr. Sheffield. No vaccine protects perfectly. Nor are all vaccines without potential symptoms or side effects. However, by and large, the risks associated with vaccines are far, far less than those associated with the diseases they protect against.






Creating herd immunity against COVID-19 and other diseases

The COVID vaccine was recently approved for use in everyone over the age of 12. There are current trials underway for children as young as six months, but development and approval for those ages are weeks if not months away.

We had been working to create protection for those who couldnt be vaccinated by immunizing adults, said Dr. Sheffield. Having a vaccine that can be given to kids as young as 12 is a huge step forward. The more people that are immunized, the more protection there is for those that cant yet receive the vaccine or have only partial protection."

If a disease isnt circulating in the community, then its harder or impossible for someone to be exposed and fall ill, said Dr. Sheffield.

Now is a great time to look at the other vaccinations an individual should receive. We dont want to give COVID vaccine within 14 days of other vaccines, said Dr. Sheffield. We want the best protection we can get from our COVID vaccinations, and the clinical trials did not test to see how other vaccines might impact the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine. By separating them, we are more confident we will get the same good results as those in the studies.






Keeping up on childhood immunizations


Right now is a great time tocatch up kids on other vaccinationsbecause they dont yet have the opportunity to receive the COVID vaccine, said Dr. Sheffield. Check with your pediatrician to see what vaccines are recommended, or what you might need to catch up on.

Vaccines are a great way to create natural and lasting protection against viruses and illness, said Dr. Sheffield. We put kids in car seats, encourage them to wear helmets, and give them good foods and warm clothes to protect them. Vaccines are one more way we keep our kids healthy and safe.

And while were protecting our kids, we can protect ourselves as well, adds Dr. Sheffield. If we protect ourselves from COVID, we protect our children, our aging parents, and those in the community that are at risk. The COVID vaccine can help us to get back to spending time with those we care about doing the things we care about with the peace of mind that we are protected.



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