This protection is called immunity. It is true that newborn babies are immune to many diseases because they have antibodies they got from their mothers. However, this immunity only lasts about a year. Immunizing individual children also helps to protect the health of our community. People who are sick will be less likely to be exposed to disease germs that can be passed around by unvaccinated children.
Immunization also slows down or stops disease outbreaks.
If a child is not vaccinated and is exposed to a disease germ, the child s body may not be strong enough to fight the disease. Before vaccines, many children died of diseases vaccines prevent, like whooping cough, measles, and polio. Those same germs exist today, but babies are now protected by vaccines and so we do not see these diseases as often.