Top five vaccine facts you need to know

The talk of the world is the COVID-19 vaccine–which will soon be available for you and me. But do you know that not all people are open to having vaccinations? Some people have equated vaccination with autism. Some simply find it inconvenient. Others believe they don’t need to be vaccinated because many people have already been vaccinated. However, the benefits of having a vaccine far, far outweigh not having them. Here’s the top five vaccine facts you need to know:

1. In the past 60 years, vaccines helped eradicate smallpox, and are close to eradicating polio.

There are existing vaccines that could stop rotavirus and pneumonia — two conditions that kill nearly 3 million children under the age of five every year. Researchers also estimate that a viable malaria vaccine could be ready for children as early as 2015.

2. Vaccines prevent more than 2.5 million deaths each year.

New and under-utilized vaccines could avert nearly 4 million deaths by 2015.

3. Vaccines do not cause autism

Scientific studies and reviews continue to show no relationship between vaccines and autism.

4. Vaccines cause “herd immunity”

This means that if the majority of people in a community have been vaccinated against a disease, an unvaccinated person is less likely to get sick because others are less likely to fall ill and spread the disease.

5. Not all vaccines are given as shots

Some vaccines are given orally. These include rotavirus, adenovirus, cholera vaccine, and oral typhoid