Vaccines and immunization: 7 common myths and misconceptions

USA is celebrating National Immunization Awareness Month in August which illustrates the importance of vaccines for people of all ages. We use our resources to help you by communicating about vaccinations this month.  

While vaccines are considered one of the best inventions that serve humankind for many years, but still, there are some misconceptions in people’s minds regarding vaccines.  

If you also feel the same, let’s help to clear your misconceptions about vaccines in this article. Keep reading.  

Vaccines can be defined as chemical substances that are given to you at certain times to boost your immunity against several infections or diseases. It is prepared by the weakened/attenuated causative agents of the disease, to create a substitute that acts as an antigen to treat the disease.  

Every year vaccines are given to school students or kids to fight several diseases or infections. The most known vaccine that is used to boost immunity is flu shots. Every year in the USA, people need to take them to boost their immunity to fight the new strains of flu.  

While vaccines are extremely useful to protect us from diseases or infections. Still, there are many misconceptions among people that stop them from getting vaccinated.  

Here are the common myths associated with vaccines:  

1. Vaccines contain harmful chemical substances: Well, this is a misconception because vaccines only contain those chemical substances that are not harmful to people. Makers and government officials only pass the vaccines when they are fully tested and safe for people. The government recommends a dose (that you should take, as per the age, body weight, and other parameters) before releasing the actual vaccines. Besides there is no case available that shows that vaccines are harmful to health.  
2. Vaccines can make you sick: Well, vaccines do not make you sick unless you already have a disease that you don’t know about. Vaccines are made in that way; they mix with the immunity cells and start creating antibodies in the body to fight infections and diseases. Yes, one thing is true some vaccines can give you minor side effects, like cold, fever, body pain, or soreness in the area where they inject the vaccine. But these symptoms go away soon. You can take antibiotics if you think it is hard to manage those symptoms. According to WHO (World Health Organization), adverse effects are extremely rare, and their risk cannot be measured statistically. 
3. A vaccine can cause autism or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in children: Well, that is not true. Because the vaccine is made to increase the immunity to fight diseases or infections. They don’t lead to diseases! A vaccine-preventable disease is much more likely to cause substantial harm to you than a vaccine. For instance, measles can cause encephalitis (brain inflammation) and blindness, polio can result in paralysis, and some vaccine-preventable illnesses can even be fatal. The advantages of vaccination far outweigh the risks, and without them, there would be a lot more accidents and fatalities. The causes of autism and SIDS have not yet been identified by science. However, these diagnoses are made between the ages at which children are scheduled for routine vaccinations. The journal that originally published the 1998 report that raised questions about a potential connection between the MMR vaccine and autism had to retract it because of serious scientific flaws. 
4. My child or children don’t need to get vaccinated because all others are vaccinated: This is wrong because you can believe that the children around your kid are immunized but when your kid goes out to the social community or maybe to different countries, he/she isn’t going to have the same kind of people around him. And then, he/she is not safe from viruses and diseases.  
5. Vaccines can overload the immune system: Many people believe that children need to take many vaccines in their childhood that can overload their immune systems.  But that is not true. Because vaccines are designed that way, they are adopted by the immune system without overloading it. Besides, there is no evidence that children get any health problems after their vaccination.  In fact, if you delay your children’s vaccination it can lead to an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases such as chicken pox or measles.  
6. Natural immunity is better and more effective than vaccine-induced immunity: That is not true. Because our body’s immunity is not yet capable of fighting against different types of infections and diseases. Besides vaccine-induced immunity helps to prevent diseases and infections that can be life-threatening.  
   • The vaccines help to build strong immunity in the body without disturbing the natural structure of the immune system. Vaccines are only provided for those diseases that can lead you to severe disabilities or are life-threatening such as Hemophilus influenza B (this disease can cause learning disability) or measles (which can even cause death).  
   • When rightly administered (with recommended quantities), all vaccines provide you with the protection that your body needs. A single disease can invoke a higher immune response than a single vaccine, which is why it is recommended that you need to take multiple doses of the same vaccine. However, this does not make any difference when it comes to protection.  
7. Vaccines are used to track people: While movies and the internet are major sources of information and entertainment, they also make people think that government officials and rich people can use vaccines as an excuse to put microchips in people, particularly during the time of COVID-19 situation and 5G implementation. Some people claim that they put a microchip in the COVID-19 vaccine and use mobile network towers, especially the 5G ones to track them. This is not true or even possible with the current technology. People should stop spreading this false information to misguide everyone for their own agenda.

Vaccines are one of the great inventions that serve humankind and will continue serving us in future years. Whenever the government recommends taking any vaccines for you and your children you should take them.  

To avoid any risks or problems, tell the doctor about your health conditions and ask him if vaccines can react to your body and lead you to further complications later. If not, take the vaccine. If yes, ask how to manage it.  

If you have any doubts in your mind about vaccines, you should consult us. Want to know more about vaccines and immunization?

At Doral Health and Wellness, we have doctors that can help you manage your condition. For more information, you can visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 11212, or call us at 1-347-384-5690. You can also visit our website at https://doralhw.org or contact us at info@doralhw.org if you have any queries.