Vaccine Policy

Vaccines are one of the greatest successes of modern medicine.  Vaccines have a long history of successfully preventing  illness and death in both children and adults.  It is our policy to immunize all children at the earliest opportunity in  order to prevent vaccine preventable diseases and their complications.  The following is a summary of our position on vaccinations.

We need to vaccinate: many of the diseases we are vaccinating against are still present in our communities (whooping cough, diphtheria, rotavirus, tetanus, hepatitis B, H. influenza  type B, chicken pox and pneumococcus) or have the potential of coming into our communities (polio, measles, rubella).  No one is able to predict if or when your child might come into contact with any of these infectious agents, thus the only certain way to safeguard your child’s health is through vaccination.

Vaccines are safe: when given properly, vaccine pose little risk to the child while the diseases we are trying to prevent can cause needless suffering, permanent injury and possible death.  Please feel free to discuss with your doctor the rare potential side effects of the shots your child is getting.

Vaccines are effective: most vaccines, when administered according to the recommended schedule, will give high immunity against the disease they are directed against.  If one should have a “breakthrough” infection after they are immunized, it is usually much milder in nature.

Vaccines are available to all patients: all our patients have access to the routine recommended vaccines either through our privately purchased vaccine stock or the state supplied vaccine stock when it is available.  As has always been the case, no child will be denied vaccination due to lack of payment, though Quincy Pediatrics Associates may charge for the cost of maintaining and administering the vaccine.  There may be special vaccines your child needs due to a specific medical condition or due to travel plans.  In such situations, we will direct you to where you can get the necessary vaccination if we do not have it available in our office.

Vaccine schedule: The vaccine schedule we follow is that set forth by the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Practitioners.  It has been studied extensively on millions of children and felt to be the safest possible schedule for childhood vaccinations.   Any deviation from this schedule has  not been studied and may increase the risk for exposure to infections.

Thimerisol-free: though never scientifically linked to developmental problems, we are committed to using thimerisol-free vaccines whenever they are available.  All routine vaccines for infants and young children are thimerisol-free.

Resources

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Academy of Pediatrics - Immunization
• Food and Drug Administration
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Network for Immunization Information