Pressroom

Know the Facts about Immunization

There are many reasons why health care professionals recommend immunizations and we’ve summarized them on this fact sheet.

  • Immunizations are one of the most important ways people can be protected against serious, preventable infectious diseases.
  • Immunizations are extremely safe as a result of advances in medical research and ongoing review by doctors, researchers, and public health officials.
  • Immunizations are recommended for infants, young children, the elderly, and those with chronic health problems because they are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases.
  • While small risks accompany every immunization, people are far more likely to be seriously harmed by vaccine-preventable diseases than by the recommended immunizations that prevent them.
  • Medical advances have resulted in the availability of additional safe and effective vaccines. Now, people can be protected against a greater number of serious preventable diseases.
  • Immunization benefits not just the individual, but also the community. Communicable infectious diseases spread among people who have not been immunized, and among the small percentage of people for whom the immunization may not have been fully effective.
  • Immunizations work by strengthening the body’s own immune system.
  • While breastfeeding and vitamins have health benefits, they do not replace the benefits of vaccines in preventing infectious diseases.
  • Without immunizations, the diseases we are now protected from could easily return to infect, disable, and even kill, many infants, children, and adults.

See this fact sheet in PDF (23K) format.