Pediatrician’s Sign About Importance of Vaccinations Goes Viral

Sunni Mariah saw something hanging on the wall of her doctor’s waiting room that caught her eye: a sign written by the Northern Rivers Vaccination Association about why it’s dangerous to not vaccinate your children. So Sunni did what so many of would do — snapped a photo and posted it on Facebook. And now it’s going viral, as anything vaccination-related so often does.

She captioned the picture: “New sign at my Dr’s office is throwing some serious shade. Vaccinate your kids.”

Couldn’t agree more. As the sign reads:

Not vaccinating your kids leaves them vulnerable to disease their whole lives. When your daughter gets rubella when pregnant, how are you going to explain that you chose to leave her at risk? What will you say when she calls you and tells you she has cervical cancer because you decided that she wouldn’t need the HPV vaccine? What do you tell your son when he breaks the news to you that he cannot have kids, thanks to the mumps that he got as a teenager? And what do you say when he gives influenza to his grandma? How do you explain that she won’t be coming home from hospital? Not ever.

After laying out several heartbreaking situations, the sign asks the reader three final questions: “Do you tell them that you didn’t think these diseases were that serious? That you thought your organic, home-cooked food was enough to protect them? Do you say sorry?”

Not surprisingly, Sunni’s post has elicited more than 30,000 reactions and 194,000 shares since it was shared on July 20 — most likely because the message is personal, highlighting how skipping your kids’ vaccines can severely hurt them in the long run. Not to mention how it can hurt those who cannot be vaccinated, including young babies, transplant, and cancer patients, who depend on the immunity of the herd to protect them. In fact, in communities where many parents opt out of vaccinating their children, the herd has diminished in recent years. As a result, unvaccinated children have died from totally preventable infectious diseases such as measles, meningitis, and pertussis.

Bottom line: Get your children immunized on schedule.