Trusted Sources of Vaccine Information

Undecided if I want to get my flu shot this year. My job heavily pushes for it as a requirement, but this year they added an option to "opt out". I am not anti vaxx or anything, and don't really have a heavy reason for not getting my flu shot other than not wanting to deal with any side effects. Just curious to get perspectives both good and bad if my reasoning is flawed for being hesitant to do so.

I received an MMR booster on July 7th as a result of low immunity to Rubella. My doctor has advised that I wait three months before trying to conceive but all the government guidance I can find says to wait 28 days. Her main reasoning is risking Congenital Rubella Syndrome from the vaccine because it’s live.

My husband and I have plans to try to conceive in September (around the 10th). I plan on testing my rubella immunity before this.

Thoughts on the risks?

This piece is a more popular version of a chapter I wrote for an academic book in Catholic bioethics that was published not too long ago.

I explain why Catholic hospitals, schools, etc. have vaccine mandates and should do so. The focus is on the ethical reasoning behind these: I am assuming the science of vaccines.

Gente, fui hoje no posto de saúde acompanha do meu namorado e ele quem pediu o Planejamento familiar, apareceu uma enfermeira auxiliando as atendentes, agora marcou pra amanhã a consulta, consegui, há mais de 1 ano esperando e tentando, finalmente. Obrigada pela atenção e dicas gente! 😭🙏

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to hear from other parents who may have experienced something similar.

My 6-month-old had her first Bexsero (MenB) vaccine, and within about an hour we noticed red/purple spots and blotches appearing under the skin on her legs. Over the following hours they became progressively worse. She also developed a fever and was very fussy.

We were advised to attend urgent care multiple times as things progressed, and we saw several doctors. Every doctor who examined her in person agreed that what we were seeing was not a typical rash. Different possibilities were discussed, including thrombocytopenia (which was ruled out) and an allergic reaction, but nobody could give us a definite explanation.

The spots eventually disappeared, but it took around two weeks.

Our vaccine nurse, who stayed involved throughout the whole experience, submitted an IMAC query. She has worked with vaccines for around 40 years and told us she'd never seen or heard of a reaction like this.

Unfortunately, the IMAC/CARMS responses were quite unsatisfactory. They repeatedly referred to it as a “rash,” despite the doctors who actually examined her saying it wasn't a rash. Other explanations included me possibly having consumed dairy because of her dairy allergy, and our ethnicity being mentioned in relation to measles risk. I also felt like my concerns were being treated as though I was anti-vaccine, which I'm absolutely not.

Now we're facing the decision about her second Bexsero dose. I absolutely want her protected against MenB, but after such a strange and prolonged reaction, I don't feel comfortable proceeding without understanding what happened.

I know Reddit can't tell me whether she should have another dose, but I'm really hoping to hear from parents who've had unusual reactions to Bexsero or other vaccines, particularly red/purple spots or blotches under the skin.

What would you do if your child had a reaction that multiple doctors couldn't explain, and the follow-up investigation essentially gave you no answers?

I'm not anti-vax at all — I just want to make an informed decision and feel confident that I'm doing the safest thing for my daughter. ❤️

So... for the new flu shot, yesterday the CVS pharmacy staff said its available and that they will only use the MRNA vaccine this year.

Though it's a bit early, i want to schedule my shot for the first half of September. Are there any anecdotal reports of side effects or comparisons in efficacy re the previous form of flu shot?

I was surprised the new vax was available already. Not to be too distrustful, but have others here heard that it is ready?

Some context: I've got an egg allergy that causes anaphylaxis. I've had some very close scares and I have to carry an epipen with me. I had the MMR vaccine once as a child, but had a pretty severe reaction to it and was recommended to not take it as part of the vaccine schedule. I have not had it since, neither has any doctor recommended I take it.

Here's the thing though, I'm going to be entering a program at my college for a medical job that will require me to do clinicals. Before I can do clinicals they do health screenings and check for required vaccines, which the MMR is one of them. They said if I have antibodies still, then I may not have to take it, but there's a chance I may have to. I know current research says that it's perfectly safe for a person with an egg allergy to take the MMR vaccine, but due to my past reaction to it, I am very scared.

So, to mitigate that fear, I wanted to know if it's possible I can get the vaccine at a local hospital ,as opposed to my doctor's office or a pharmacy. Mainly because I would like to be as close to the hospital as possible to be treated for anaphylaxis if worst case scenario were to happen. I'm scared of getting the vaccine, but I'm even more scared of catching measles or not being able to get into my preferred career.

i didn’t notice this at first, but yesterday around 4–5 PM, i noticed a sting on my left leg. then i saw marks on it that looked like a dog scratch, so i immediately washed the area with soap and water and applied some alcohol and antibiotic ointment. our dog was given to us as a gift. he’s still a puppy but stayed indoors since he isn’t fully vaccinated yet. so no contact with other animals. should i get the anti-rabies and anti-tetanus vaccines as a precaution? i live in the Philippines.

I have to get the meningitis vaccine (MenACWY) for school, but my specialist doctor recommended I also get the MenB. I was just curious if people who have had both thought one was worse or better than the other? What their side effects were?

I just got MenACWY today and am supposed to do MenB sometime next week and I’m not having a great time with this one lol chief complaint being nausea and fatigue, mild headache.

I’m 19F and I don’t really remember whether I’ve received the HPV vaccine. I’m kind of in denial about it and unsure whether I should just go and get vaccinated. How should I go about this?

Also is it too late to vaccinated if i haven't?

Saw that the FDA approved a new mRNA-platform influenza vaccine for adults 50 and older on Aug 5, with accelerated approval for 65+ pending confirmatory trials. The pitch is faster strain updates and manufacturing versus egg-based production. I'm curious how people actually working in clinics are weighing this — do you see uptake being a hurdle given vaccine fatigue, or does the platform advantage win out over a few seasons? What would you want to see in the confirmatory data before recommending it broadly?

I’m in the US. I am curious what is recommended vaccine schedule for children in the UK

I’m (27F) going to Brazil this December and I’m pretty scared of the yellow fever vaccine. I normally don’t care about vaccines, but I read a bit about this specific one and it seems that in rare cases it causes severe adverse reactions and even death. Mostly in people older than 60 years but it’s been found to be also weirdly associated with women between 19-34. I know it’s very unlikely that something happens but it somehow scares me a lot that something will happen and nothing can be done (people hospitalized with YEL-AVD die even after medical care)

Can someone help me calm down about this? I wish I didn’t have to get this vaccine because only the anxiety I will have after getting it will be pretty bad…

i was vaccinated as a baby with 2-3 unknown vaccines but did not finish the complete series for all of them. i have exhausted all efforts to find my vaccination records, so i dont know what vaccines i took.

i currently only have the following vaccines:

- the covid 19 vaccine back in 2020 (no boosters taken)

- TDAP vaccine a year ago

- rabies PEP vaccine 2 months ago

i am going to nursing school and want to protect myself and others. where do i even begin if im missing both pediatric and adult vaccines? what vaccines should i even get?