Should I Vaccinate My Kid?

Welcome to Ask Dr. Harvey Karp, our fatherhood advice column at Esquire, where the author of The Happiest Baby on the Block and creator of the SNOO answers your burning questions about parenting. Got a query? Drop us a line in the comments.

Today’s parents are bombarded with all sorts of “sciencey-sounding” misinformation about vaccines. It can all be very confusing.

Over the past 40 years, I’ve had the joy of caring for tens of thousands of healthy kids. Unfortunately, I’ve also seen many children suffer and even die from preventable diseases, like meningitis, pneumonia, polio—and yes, even measles and chickenpox. I’ve seen vaccine side effects, too, but 99.9% have just been fever, soreness, and/or fussiness.

No one has all the answers, but every day science is improving every day. That’s why we trust science to help our kids heal from injuries and infections and to why we are grateful for advances that help manage our medical issues, from infertility and migraines to diabetes and cancer.

As you thoughtfully consider the best choices for your family, I’d like to offer a bit of balance to the TikTok horror stories. So, let’s look at the science-backed facts behind vaccines.

Imagine an invisible shield that protects babies from dangerous illnesses. That’s what vaccines provide. They quickly train the immune system to recognize and destroy aggressive viruses and bacteria trying to sneak into and attack your child’s body.

As parents, we want zero risk for our kids. But we all know that a risk-free world doesn’t exist. Tens of thousands die in car crashes every year, and millions get injured, but most of us don’t turn into “anti-car” people who don’t drive for fear of fatal accidents. We accept and reduce the slight risk by using seatbelts and carseats, and even take that risk with our kids, every day.

Vaccines give kids lots of benefits (long-lasting protection against diseases that used to cause innocent kids great suffering, disability, even death) with only a very uncommon risk of a serious negative effect.

Nothing works 100% of the time—but vaccines come pretty close. Childhood immunizations have made it vanishingly rare for kids to suffer the painful and life-threatening cases of meningitis, polio, or epiglottitis that I witnessed decades ago. Most childhood vaccines are 85–95% effective at totally preventing illness and in instances when vaccines don’t have total protection, like the flu, COVID-19, or chickenpox, the symptoms are usually much milder than if you or your child were unvaccinated.

That’s why vaccines are truly miracles. Just ask your great-grandmother—she’d have seen them as answers to her prayers.

Vaccines are made from very weakened germs (or bits of germs) that are easily handled by a child’s immune system. That means they are 100 to 1,000 times weaker than the “brass knuckles” street-version of these diseases.

The baby shots train the immune system to recognize and fight off the actual dangerous germs–even decades later–but they’re weak enough that a child’s immune system can easily eliminate them. So, a vaccine is like a sting from a tired old bee, instead of being attacked by a whole swarm.

But what about several vaccines at once? Some critics claim that giving multiple vaccines might “overwhelm” a baby’s immune system. It may sound plausible, but it’s simply untrue…here’s why:

A baby’s immune system is built to multi-task. Day and night, it’s on constant alert to detect and defeat bacteria and viruses. Not one by one, but countless assaults—24/7—that enter through your child’s eyes, nose, mouth, skin, and gut. So, several vaccines at once? Your kid’s immune system says, “No prob, Dada!”

Vaccine skeptics claim “natural immunity” is better than vaccine immunity. The problem is that before natural immunity ever kicks in, childhood illnesses can viciously crush a child’s immune system. For example, “natural immunity” fails to fight off the illness for millions of unimmunized kids exposed to measles and chickenpox. They often end up with temporarily damaged immune systems and months of bacterial illnesses, from ear infections to sepsis. Even worse, “natural immunity” is totally overwhelmed for the thousands of measles victims who end up hospitalized or who die. In the U.S., without immunizations, 1 out of 1,000 children would die after getting measles (~3,600 each year), and the risk of death for unimmunized adults would be 1 in 100. Each one of those deaths is a total failure of “natural immunity.”

99% of people receiving two doses of the MMR vaccine develop long lasting immunity to measles. This immunization has likely saved the lives of 100,000 U.S. kids since 2000. ​​

Did you ever ask yourself, “why hasn’t my child gotten polio, measles, or diphtheria?” The key reason is because your neighbors protected your kids by having their kids immunized. One child with measles can infect 90% of unvaccinated kids they come near.

If you lived on an isolated farm, your protective bubble would prevent most contagious dangers. But in most communities, your protective bubble is a gift from your neighbors’ commitment to civic responsibility. The more anti-vaxxers in your neighborhood, the higher the risk that your family will be exposed to a preventable disease outbreak. That means, babies too young to get vaccinated, or elderly and immunocompromised adults, are put in harm’s way when parents refuse protective vaccines for their children and community.

Note: Some shots protect against minimally contagious or non-contagious diseases like tetanus. In those cases, your choice to vaccinate is personal, not communal.

Parents have to make lots of tough decisions, but getting vaccinated should not be one of them: the science is clear, compelling, and reassuring. So, the next time your for-you page is flooded with alarming claims, remember vaccines are among the simplest, safest, smartest ways to keep your child healthy…and to protect your neighbor’s baby, too!