Vaccine-preventable diseases have been virtually eliminated from Canada, so there is no need for my child to be vaccinated. Giving a child multiple vaccinations for different diseases at the same time increases the risk of harmful side effects and can overload the immune system. Despite all the assurances by the medical profession, there are still some parents who have chosen not to vaccinate. There's much more risk involved in driving your child to the doctor's office to get a vaccination, than from a vaccine itself. The risks of not having the shots are a lot greater than the risks of immunization.
Vaccines are among the very safest tools of modern medicine.
Serious side effects are rare. For example, severe allergic reactions can occur, but the level of risk is small. In Canada, this kind of reaction has occured less often than once in every one million doses of vaccine, and effective treatment has meant these patients recovered completely. The risks are much smaller than the danger posed by the disease itself. Minor side effects from vaccines are common-swelling and tenderness at the spot where the vaccine is injected, for example, and mild fevers.