Vaccination Videos - Why Vaccinate?

Kia ora I’m Dr Kirianna Bird.

I'm a doctor in the Hawkes Bay and I'm also a mum.

As parents we do everything we can to protect the health and wellbeing of our tamariki.

Immunisation is one of the best ways for us to help protect our babies and children against serious preventable diseases.

Every day our bodies fight infection using a natural immune response.

Immunisation uses the same natural immune response to protect against serious diseases some of which can be deadly.

The national immunisation schedule is a series of free immunisations for our tamariki at different stages of their lives.

It protects our tamariki, whānau and community against the spread of serious infectious diseases, from before a baby is born right throughout their lives.

Immunisation is one of the best ways to prevent infectious diseases such as measles, tetanus and whooping cough and even some kinds of cancer.

This is why the Ministry of Health and health organisations around the world support immunisation.

Dr Kiriana Bird: In New Zealand more than 90% of babies are fully immunised on time.

But working in a general practice we sometimes meet parents who are concerned about immunisation.

It's natural for parents to worry whether they're doing the best thing for their kids.

So I'm here to help answer some of the most common questions like what's in a vaccine and what are the potential risks and side effects.

Let's meet some families who, like you, have questions about immunisation.

[Erika and her whānau in the background.]

Erika: How safe are vaccines?

Dr Kiriana Bird: Extremely safe.

Before any vaccine is approved for use, it goes through a long testing process by scientists around the world and in New Zealand to ensure it's safe and effective for our tamariki.

This process can take several years and compares the health of people who have been immunised with those who haven't. 

And safety doesn't stop there.

Safety is also continuously monitored for the life of the vaccine to ensure it remains safe.

As part of this process, the Centre for Adverse Reactions Monitoring at Otago University, records reactions reported after vaccinations so that scientists can keep track of any reactions that may occur.

Erika: Are there any side effects from vaccines? 

Dr. Bird: Vaccines are a form of medicine, and all medicines have some side effects, even commonly used ones like paracetamol.

With immunisation, vaccines often cause a mild reaction, and rarely cause a more serious problem.

For example, your child may experience a mild reaction to the vaccine such as a slight fever or redness at the injection site. 

This is the immune system’s natural response to the vaccine, and it usually doesn’t last very long. 

When they have fevers, some babies experience a brief seizure. Sometimes this can be caused by a vaccine.

And while this may be scary, it doesn’t cause any permanent harm and babies recover quickly.

About one in every million people who are vaccinated will experience a severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis.

This is why you’re asked to wait for 20 minutes after your child’s immunisation so that trained nurses can immediately treat your child if they have an allergic reaction.

Treatment is very fast and effective. These allergic reactions are more commonly caused by some foods, bee stings and other medication.

There are a couple of vaccines that have their own rare but particular reactions – you can find out more from carefully researched sites like Immunisation Advisory Centre or Medsafe, but most importantly you can talk through any worries that you may have with your local nurse or GP. 

There are lots of common myths about immunisation that parents may worry about, even though these have been proven to be false through extensive research. 

Many studies show that vaccines do not cause autism, miscarriage, sudden infant death or a number of other health conditions.

Josie: Is there a natural alternative to immunisation?

Dr. Bird: I can understand you want the best start for your little one.

Your body has a natural immune system that fights infections.

Clean water, fresh air, exercise and healthy eating all help to keep you well.

But some diseases move too fast for even a healthy immune system to fight off.

This can cause damage to the body that can take a long time to heal.

The only way to protect against these diseases is to immunise.

Immunisation uses the body’s natural immune response, by preparing your baby’s immune system to identify and fight off diseases without the unnecessary risk of your baby getting sick.

As a doctor, I’ve seen what happens when kids get really sick.

For me, prevention is always better than treatment.

Josie: A lot of these diseases aren’t around anymore. Do we still need to worry?

Dr. Bird: I guess vaccines have become a victim of their own success in that way.

Some diseases are less common now but your grandparents might remember the harm they caused to our communities.

Thanks to immunisation, we’re lucky that a lot of diseases are no longer common in our communities – but they’re still around and many are just a plane ride away.

When most people are immunised, the threat of these diseases becomes less.

But if too many people aren’t immunised then these diseases can spread easily and quickly.

In New Zealand in recent years, we’ve had outbreaks of measles, mumps and whooping cough affecting thousands of people, with hundreds of babies needing hospital treatment.

So although some diseases, like polio, are now rare, they can still be brought into New Zealand by people who have travelled overseas.

This is why it’s important to immunise so that together, we can prevent the risk of infectious diseases in our communities

Tracy: I’ve heard some people still get sick – does that mean immunisation doesn’t always work?

Dr. Bird: Vaccines usually stop someone from getting a disease, but not in every case.

Immunisation is still one of the best things we can do to help protect our whānau.

Immunisation significantly reduces your chance of catching a disease - and for some vaccines by up to 98 percent.

But if you’re immunised and still catch the disease, you’re less likely to get seriously ill, or need to go to hospital.

For a very few people, their immune systems don’t respond to immunisation.

So the best way to protect them is to make sure everyone around them is immunised.

Tracy: I saw something on Facebook about vaccines being toxic – are they going to be ok for my baby?

Dr. Bird: There are lots of stories on the internet about vaccine ingredients that are worrying, but misleading.

Vaccines are mostly water and a weakened or small part of the germ they protect against.

They have a few other ingredients to make sure the vaccine works properly and stays fresh.

These ingredients are in tiny amounts, and are common in food, medicines or already in our bodies.

One ingredient you might have heard of is formaldehyde.

It’s used in the production of some vaccines to kill the germ so that we don’t catch the actual disease.

It’s in tiny traces and the amount is usually too small to even measure.

Our bodies already produce small amounts of formaldehyde, but actually, there’s far more in a pear than in a vaccine.

So even children’s bodies are more than capable of dealing with these tiny amounts.

Aluminium is also used in some vaccines to help our immune system respond to a vaccine.

Aluminium is the 3rd most common element in the world – we find it in the things we eat and drink every day but our bodies are good at removing it.

Because vaccines contain such tiny amounts of each ingredient, they’re not harmful or toxic for our little ones.

Strict guidelines and ongoing monitoring of vaccines make sure they’re safe.

All medicines have benefits and risks.

With immunisation, the benefits significantly outweigh the risks.

When we don’t have personal experience of those diseases it can be hard to see these benefits.

Our job is to help you make an informed choice for your whānau.

Voiceover: Being informed about immunisation will help you understand the advantages of immunising your whānau, and any risks associated with a vaccine or a serious disease.

There’s a lot of information about immunisation which can be confusing.

So to make the best decision for your whānau, it’s important to get trusted information from reliable sources.

To help you make an informed decision, think about whether the information is up to date and relates to New Zealand.

Check that it's based on sound evidence, backed up by clinical studies and ongoing monitoring.

And that it's supported by health professionals and scientific organisations.

Voiceover: Every country in the world uses immunisation to protect against the spread of diseases.

Worldwide millions of lives have been saved by these immunisation programmes.

Although New Zealand’s immunisation programme has a lot in common with other countries around the world, our programme is designed to meet the needs of our tāngata.

In Aotearoa, we decide which immunisations to include based on the diseases we want to protect our whānau against.

Dr. Bird: The benefits of immunisation are huge – it reduces deaths, hospitalisations, permanent health damage and serious illness.

But as with all medicine, there is a risk of discomfort or a short term reaction, and a very small chance of a vaccine causing a more serious reaction.

Because of this, it’s easy to understand why immunisation may make parents feel nervous, and why it’s important to talk about these concerns with a health professional.

Immunisation is one of the best ways to help protect your child against the risk of serious diseases and protect our whole community.

Make the choice to immunise your child and give them the best start to a healthy future.

Voiceover: Protect your whānau. Immunise, it’s their best protection.