For many senior citizens, the fall is a time of grand kids returning to school, summer vacations ending, and snowbirds preparing to return to warmer locations. Caring for seniors means making sure they’re up-to-date on recommended vaccines. This year, because of COVID-19, the importance of vaccines for the elderly cannot be overstated.
While there is no vaccine for the novel coronavirus yet, public health experts say that immunizations will be critical for everyone, especially the elderly and infants/children. That’s because a wave of influenza or other infectious diseases, in addition to a COVID-19 outbreak, could seriously impact hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities.
That’s why the CDC is highlighting the importance of immunizations by declaring August as National Immunization Awareness Month in the US. August is a great time to make sure you and your elderly family members have up-to-date immunizations and, if appropriate, receive the annual influenza vaccine.
Getting Immunization Information
There is much confusion and deliberate misinformation when it comes to vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases, especially online. That’s why it’s best to use authoritative sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization and to discuss any information about vaccines you find with your doctor.
What Immunizations Do Elderly Family Members Need?
In addition to the annual Influenza vaccine, there are immunizations for Pneumonia, Hepatitis, and several other diseases that you may need. You can visit the CDC website and use this valuable tool to see the recommended immunizations, then discuss those results with your doctor.
About Vaccines
Vaccines work by triggering your body’s natural immune response. Some may contain weakened versions of a virus that will trigger the response while easily killing the virus.
Because there is so much information about vaccines, both good and bad, it’s important to discuss any concerns you may have with your doctor. But it’s important to remember:
- Vaccines are extensively tested for both safety and efficacy. The Food and Drug Administration must approve vaccines before they can be used.
- Like any medicine, vaccines can have side effects. However, these side effects are tracked and studied during the approval process, and most are minor and go away quickly.
- Some vaccines can wear off over time, meaning elderly people may need to be immunized again. Talk to your doctor about what you may need.
- Here’s a handy explainer video about how vaccines work and their importance.
Given the importance of immunizations, some safety concerns are natural. But as we raise awareness of immunizations, we should also note that to be approved for use, vaccines must undergo extensive safety testing. Here’s how the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases put it in 2010:
“Safety concerns are ratcheted up even more when dealing with an intervention, namely a vaccine, in an otherwise well population. That’s why, when you have vaccine trials, it involves thousands and thousands of people…
Much more than the drugs, no doubt. All you need to do is show that [the drug] is effective. … But when you’re going to widely use a vaccine in large numbers of good people, particularly well children, you’ve got to be very, very careful and make sure that you’re sure about the safety and that the safety profile outweighs any risk.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, “Frontline” April 27, 2010.
