We strongly believe in the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and to save lives. All infants, children and young adults should receive the vaccines according to the schedule supported by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention we perform as pediatricians, and that you can perform as parents/caregivers. The vaccine schedule we use is the result of years of scientific study and data gathering on millions of children by our brightest scientists and physicians. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that there is discussion about whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. We recognize that the choice may be a very emotional one for some parents. We will do everything we can to allay any concerns you have about vaccinating your child.
We do not support alternative immunization schedules and will not support the practice of “splitting up the vaccines”. We are aware that there are individuals who have proposed alternative immunization schedules. These are not based upon any scientific evidence and are not proven regimens. These delayed schedules put the individual child and their contacts at risk for developing serious illness
If you are unwilling or unable to comply with the vaccine schedule, you will be asked to transfer to another practice in order to protect our other patients, especially those with compromised immune systems.
If you refuse to vaccinate your child despite all our efforts, we will ask you to find another physician who shares your views. We do not keep a list of such physicians nor would we recommend any such physician.
As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating on schedule is the right thing to do for all children, adolescents, and adults! Please recognize that by not vaccinating, you place your child at unnecessary risk for life-threatening illness and disability, and even death.
Thank you for reading this policy, and the trust you place in us. Please feel free to raise any questions or concerns you may have about this policy with one of us.
– The Providers at Belmont Cambridge Health Care