The Importance of Vaccinating Your Children

When I found out that I was pregnant, I read all different kinds of books and articles. Right from the beginning, I knew that I would vaccinate my children. As someone in the medical field, I generally trust medical research and read about how important vaccines are in prevention of disease. I cannot believe that people still believe that vaccines cause autism and truly hope that that idea will soon be forgotten as it is not true.

My children are my entire world and keeping them healthy and safe is my number one priority in life. Therefore, my kids get their vaccines according to the recommended schedule by our pediatrician. As a mom, I want to keep my children safe from contracting different illnesses from others including those from people who may have gotten a disease since they are not vaccinated.


When I Vaccinate contacted me about sharing why I vaccinate my kids, I was in right away. It is a topic that I am passionate about and is a perfect fit for me. What I learned is that Michigan has one of the worst childhood and overall immunization rates in the US. I was surprised! I had no idea.

Less than 75 percent of young children and teens in Michigan were fully immunized and Michigan ranked 6th for states with the highest number of parents seeking waivers for their kids so that they do not have to follow school vaccine requirements (as of late 2014). That is absolutely horrible. I love living in Michigan but as a mom with young kids and one who does not have many of his vaccines yet (due to being too young), I am horrified.

Vaccines are so, so important in the prevention of many diseases and they are so necessary for keeping your children (and other children) healthy. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism and that idea has been disproved yet some people still do not believe that their children need vaccines. Why would you make your child susceptible to disease by skipping vaccines? I just do not understand! Please parents, vaccinate your children! It is so important to keep them healthy.  


According to the National Immunization Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Michigan’s “4313314” vaccination rate* was 65 percent in 2014 — fourth worst among the 50 states (*4 DTap, 3 Polio, 1 MMR, 3Hib, 3 HepB, 1 Varicella, 4 PCV). With more children not being immunized, the public health of all Michigan residents is being threatened. 

Public health is protected when 93 percent of a population is immunized. Michigan has 21 counties with a vaccine waiver of 7.1% or more (meaning that parents signed a paper saying that they will not vaccinate their school aged children due to different beliefs). Many cities not vaccinating include prominent cities including Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham, Northville and Rochester. Experts believe that immunization rates are down because of lack of education to parents about medical safety and public health benefits of immunizations. By providing this education, they believe that vaccination rates will increase.

"Dr. Adalyn" making sure that her brother is healthy!

This is where I Vaccinate comes in. In the mid 1990s, Michigan had the worst immunization rate and in the early 2000s, we improved to having one of the best vaccination rates. How this was done was by having a campaign to educate parents about vaccinations. This campaign ended in 2005 and vaccination rates have been declining since.

However, the I Vaccinate campaign has launched this year to increase education and awareness of vaccines. There is a website, advertising, social media activities and more educating parents on the importance of vaccinating their children. I Vaccinate provides information and tools based on real medical science and research to help Michigan parents protect their kids.

I am completely supportive of providing education about vaccinating your children as it is a topic that is so important to me and is super important in the nation's health and in my state of Michigan. If you are a parent who is against vaccinating your children, I beg you to please research how important vaccines are using good scientific sources with real information.

I’ve partnered with I Vaccinate to share my story and this content is sponsored by I Vaccinate.