dirty cut, which can cause very painful whole body spasms and death; Pertussis, or whooping cough, which causes severe constriction of the airways; and Measles, which is one of the most contagious illnesses known, and can cause male infertility and death, along with a lot of other serious symptoms. There are several other vaccinations that are recommended also--each one is very important!

There are a lot of myths out there, like vaccines causing Autism. This has been disproved over and over, and I recently found out that the doctor that wrote the first paper saying that a certain Measles vaccine caused Autism only did so because he was developing a rival Measles vaccine and he wanted everyone to buy his and not the other person's. He retracted his paper several years later and admitted that he made everything up. There have also been a few studies lately that are finding signs of Autism in babies even before most vaccines are even given. Another concern people have is about Mercury in vaccines. Many vaccines used to have Mercury in them for a preservative, and most have now removed it. For the vaccines that haven't totally removed it, there are only a few MOLECULES of Mercury in the vaccine. We actually have small amounts of Mercury in our body naturally, so a few molecules in a vaccine aren't a concern to our safety.

Another concern is about getting too many vaccines at once, and maybe overwhelming your child's immune system. This doesn't

happen--each vaccine only has 1 antigen in it, or up to 5 or 6 for the combined vaccines. We are exposed to hundreds of antigens daily, so a few more aren't a cause for concern.

I think the hardest part about getting our children vaccinated is just knowing that the shots hurt-- I hated watching my babies get their shots! And sometimes children get sick after vaccines, but this shows that their body is making antibodies to the disease.

The Covid vaccine will hopefully be released for younger children in the next few months. Please consider getting your child vaccinated. There are a lot of people that think a good immune system will overcome an illness, but in the case of Covid, this isn't the case, even if a someone has had the illness. Our bodies just haven't had enough exposure to this virus, and on top of that, the virus keeps changing. The best way to protect yourself, your child, and everyone around you is by getting vaccinated yourself, and vaccinating your child when it is safe to do so. There is a lot of concern because this vaccine was developed so quickly--however, the mRNA vaccines in general have been studied for over 20 years. Also, most research is a 9-5 thing. This vaccine was worked on 24/7 for 1-1/2 years, so in real terms, that is equivalent to over 4 years worth of research in real time. And over 11,000,000 people have received this vaccine with only a few side effects.

If you have any questions about any vaccines, I am very happy to answer them!