Vaccine Safety
All vaccines have to be tested to make sure they are both safe and effective. Vaccines, like any medication, can cause side effects. Even an aspirin can cause problems for some people; yet for most, it is safe and effective. The most common side effects of vaccines are mild pain, swelling and redness where the shot was given. Serious side effects from immunizations are extremely rare.
Although vaccines save thousands of lives each year, concerns about their safety continue. While no medicine or vaccine is without risk, the benefits far outweigh the risks. A decision not to immunize a child puts both the child and others who come into contact with him or her at risk of contracting a preventable disease that could be dangerous or deadly. Learn more:
- Vaccine Safety - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Immunization Program
- Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) - VAERS
- Cause or Coincidence - National Network for Immunization Information
- Evaluating Information About Vaccines on the Internet - National Network for Immunization Information
- Immunization Issues: Vaccine Misinformation - National Network for Immunization Information
- Six Common Misconceptions About Immunizations - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Thimerosal in Vaccines - U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
- Vaccine Safety Information for Parents - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Vaccines & Autism: Important Conclusions from a Recent Report from the Institute of Medicine - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention & The Department of Health and Human Services
- CDC's Thimerosal in Vaccines Timeline (1999-2008) - The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
- CDC's Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) Vaccine and Autism Fact Sheet - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Transcript of CDC, National Institutes of Health and National Vaccine Program Office telebriefing on vaccine safety - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Health Resources and Services Administration Statement on Autism and the Vaccine Injury Program - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Information about the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services