Letters to the Editor: Why we need to stop normalizing vaccine hesitancy in parents

To the editor: Childhood vaccine delay and refusal is a critical threat to the health of our communities. As a pediatrician and vaccine delivery researcher, I have similar experiences with vaccine-hesitant parents to those presented in the article. (“More parents are delaying their kids’ vaccines, and it’s alarming pediatricians,” March 11)

However, before losing hope, it is essential to remember that most parents in the U.S. continue to recognize the value of vaccines and vaccinate their children.

In a recent New England Journal of Medicine piece, I argue along with my co-authors that incorrectly assuming parental vaccine hesitancy is the norm can be harmful. This false narrative can negatively influence vaccine policy, degrade healthcare providers’ confidence in their ability to influence vaccination behavior, and contribute to parental self-doubt about the value of vaccines.

Efforts to improve parental vaccine confidence should emphasize the overwhelming majority of parents who choose to vaccinate their children according to schedules recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

David Higgins, M.D., Centennial, Colo.

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To the editor: I was born in 1946, before most of the vaccines we have today were invented. My sister and I had mumps and measles. She also had polio.

We were very sick with high fevers. Besides my sister, two neighbor kids had polio. I remember my sister screaming from the hot baths every day and my mother taking her to physical therapy. Cab drivers volunteered to take these sick children to their treatment. I’ve seen kids crippled by polio.

There was no question when the Salk vaccine came out: My mother got it for us. My four girls and their children all got their shots as soon as possible.

If you do not vaccinate your children, there is an increased likelihood they will become very sick or even die. Your child could also infect others or cause the death of other kids with compromised immunity. Do you really want to be the one who kills these children?

Cheryl Younger, Los Angeles

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To the editor: It is not complicated. Whenever a parent places a child in preschool, daycare or any environment requiring that child to interact with others, that parent must present a certificate of vaccination.

Parents these days need to work. Children these days need to be vaccinated. Full stop.

Joan Walston, Santa Monica