Held by his father, Joey Akridge, a 1-year-old also named Joey Akridge gets a series of vaccinations from Registered Nurse Cindy Makimaa at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department on Monday.To vaccinate kids, or not to vaccinate kids?
There was no debate for Francina Akridge, who brought her son Joey to the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department on Monday for a round of immunizations.
“I just want to keep him healthy from all kinds of illnesses that could go around,” she said. Joey is her fifth child, Ms. Akridge said, and she’s been adamant about vaccinating all of them.
Still, a growing number of parents are refusing to have their children vaccinated for diseases such as mumps, measles and polio, saying the shots’ risks outweigh their benefits – prompting a firestorm of debate among researchers, health-care providers and parents.
The local anti-vaccine trend has grown to such scale that many pediatricians in the Chattanooga area have created policies stating they will not take new patients whose parents refuse vaccination.