Vaccine Policy

East Suburban Pediatrics Vaccine Policy Statement

At East Suburban Pediatrics, we are committed to providing the highest standard of care for your child. Central to this commitment is our unwavering support for immunization as a critical component of pediatric healthcare.

Our Beliefs

Effectiveness and Safety: Vaccines are safe and effective in preventing serious illness and saving lives.
Adherence to Recommended Schedules: All children and young adults who are medically able should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
Scientific Consensus: Vaccines do not cause autism or other developmental disabilities based on the available literature, evidence, and current peer-reviewed reasearch. The CHOP Vaccine Education Center provides detailed reliable information on the current science regarding vaccines.
Public Health Responsibility: Vaccinating children and young adults is one of the most important health-promoting interventions we perform as healthcare providers, and that you can perform as parents/caregivers. The recommended vaccines and their schedule are the results of years of scientific study and data gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.
Herd Immunity: By not vaccinating your child, you are taking advantage of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children, which decreases the likelihood that your child will contract one of these diseases. We feel such an attitude to be self-centered and unacceptable.

The Risks of Underimmunization: A Growing Concern

Despite the proven effectiveness of vaccines, underimmunization remains a significant public health challenge. In the United States, the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases underscores the importance of maintaining high vaccination coverage. For instance, in 2024-2025, there have been over 1400 reported cases of measles in the U.S., with 92% of those cases occurring in unvaccinated or under-vaccinated individuals. This preventable outbreak has resulted in over 175 hospitalizations and 3 deaths. These outbreaks not only affect the unvaccinated but also pose risks to those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons, highlighting the concept of herd immunity. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) continues to advocate for timely immunizations as the most effective method to protect children from serious illnesses and to prevent the spread of preventable diseases within communities (AAP).

Our Policy

Vaccination Requirement: All patients in the practice are required to receive all AAP-recommended immunizations according to the recommended schedule.
No Delays or Altered Schedules: Please be advised that delaying or “breaking up the vaccines” to give one or two at a time over two or more visits goes against expert recommendations and can put your child at risk for serious illness (or even death). This approach goes against our medical advice as providers at East Suburban Pediatrics.
Refusal to Vaccinate: If you should absolutely refuse to vaccinate your child despite all our efforts, we will ask you to find another healthcare provider who shares your views. We do not keep a list of such providers, nor would we recommend any such physician. Please recognize that by not vaccinating, you are putting your child at unnecessary risk for life-threatening illness and disability, and even death.

Our Commitment

As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults. Please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any one of us.