CDC and Harvard Health Publishing about Vaccination
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC, is an organization that protects our nation from any threats to our health, security, and safety. To accomplish this, the CDC provides people with information and conducts critical science to increase health security. One of the topics that the CDC discusses is vaccinations for children where they explain what a vaccine is, how it works in our body, and why it is beneficial in babies and young children. According to the CDC, vaccines work by imitating an infection which allows the body to recognize and fight the same infection in the future and develop immunity. As the body develops immunity, some symptoms occur but are typical and considered insignificant.
Babies are very vulnerable and are exposed to many germs that can be deadly in their first few months. The CDC argues that it is essential to a baby’s health that they receive shots to protect them from infectious diseases, which are preventable with the right vaccines. They recommend a certain schedule for these vaccinations and they warrant these shots safe and necessary to control diseases in the United States. They state that the side effects that come with vaccinations are mild and doctors are trained to deal with reactions that are more serious but extremely rare.
To ensure safety, the CDC proclaims that the U.S. has the safest vaccine supply in history. Before they are approved, they go through several tests and studies to guarantee effectiveness and safety for the use of the nation. The CDC published this to inform parents of young children about vaccines, how they work, and why they are necessary. They refer to parents in this writing multiple times and use this to convince them that the benefits outweigh the minor side effects.
Another organization that talks about vaccination is Harvard Health Publishing. Claire McCarthy, MD, is an editor for the Harvard Health Publishing, a primary care pediatrician, and an Assistant Professor of the Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In one of her articles, she writes about how the flu shot can potentially save a child’s life. During Dr. McCarthy’s practice, she found that of the 358 children who died from influenza, 74% of them were not vaccinated for it.
She argues that influenza can be extremely dangerous and kills thousands of people per year, and unfortunately a large number are children. She gives reasons for why parents opt out to vaccinating their children, which includes that it is dangerous, ineffective, and unnecessary. She asserts that the flu shot is safe and has no fatal risks but may cause discomfort for a few days. The flu vaccine is 50-60% effective so there is no harm in getting the shot even if it does not work for everyone and if more people were to use it, the number of fatalities would decrease.
Dr. McCarthy wrote this article for parents to convince them to vaccinate their children with all vaccines, especially the flu shot. Her intended audience is the general adult population, but more specifically parents. She informs the people of the dangers of the influenza and how it can be prevented. In her article, she tries to guilt parents into allowing their children to get the flu shot by inferring that the shot will keep their child healthy and alive.
