Vaccines Specialist

What are vaccines?

Vaccines may help improve your child’s defenses against common contagious diseases. They contain small amounts of weakened or dead germs that cause disease. 

When injected into your child, their immune system recognizes the germ as a foreign substance and develops antibodies to attack and kill the germ.

Vaccines help your child build immunity against the germ – most often without ever getting sick. When they come in contact with that germ at another point in time, their immune system has a defense mechanism to fight off the disease, which may prevent your child from developing serious symptoms or even getting sick at all. 

Are vaccines safe?

Many parents have concerns about vaccines. However, vaccines are safe for children. Because vaccines are given to millions of people every year, including children, they undergo years of testing to ensure safety for all people. 

However, it’s not uncommon to develop side effects after receiving vaccinations. These side effects may include pain and swelling at the site of the injection or a mild fever. In most children, side effects quickly resolve and are less serious than contracting the actual illness the vaccine offers protection against. 

Though uncommon, allergic reactions to vaccines happen. Your provider at Pediatric Practitioners of Oklahoma can talk to you about vaccine allergies if you have concerns your child may have an allergic reaction and help you decide how best to proceed. 

What vaccines do children need?

There are many vaccines available to children to prevent disease. Some of the vaccines available at Pediatric Practitioners of Oklahoma include:

• Hepatitis B
• Rotavirus
• Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP)
• Meningitis
• Pneumonia
• Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
• Polio
• Flu
• Human papillomavirus (HPV)
• Varicella
• Flu vaccine
  
  

Pediatric Practitioners of Oklahoma provides vaccines as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

When should children have vaccines?

Vaccinations for children start soon after birth. Your newborn baby may receive their first vaccine — hepatitis B — before you leave the hospital. Pediatric Practitioners of Oklahoma provides additional vaccines as recommended by the CDC. 

Many vaccines are given during the first 18 months of your child’s life. Vaccines at this age help improve their developing immune system.

Children receive vaccines at:

• Birth
• Two months
• Four months
• Six months
• 12 months
• 15 months
• 18 months
• 4-6 years
• 11-12 years
• 16 years
  
  

Pediatric Practitioners of Oklahoma recommends your child update their flu vaccine every year. 

Vaccines are a type of preventive medicine that may protect your child from getting very sick from contagious diseases. To schedule your child’s vaccinations, call Pediatric Practitioners of Oklahoma, o today.