Vaccine Policy

We at Children's Health of Ocala are dedicated to providing the best care that we can for our patients. We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health promoting intervention we perform as healthcare providers and that you can perform as parent/caregivers.

We recognize that there has always been and will likely always be controversy surrounding vaccination. While we believe that vaccines are very safe and clearly safer than not having vaccines, we recognize that there are risks associated with all interventions and therapies. We have handouts with accurate information about immunization and respected internet sites about benefit of vaccines.

As a result of under-immunization there has been a recent outbreak of whooping cough, chicken pox and measles in several states with several deaths resulting from complications of measles.

Unfortunately, there seems to be an increasing frequency of parents refusing all or some vaccinations. This places children at an unnecessary and potentially severe risk for life threatening illness and disability. We feel obligated to reduce the number of children needlessly exposed. While we recognize and respect the parent’s role as the ultimate decision maker for their child's health care, we believe strongly that we are obligated to deliver the best and safest healthcare possible for our patients and our community.

If you refuse to vaccinate your child according to the recommended schedule, we ask that you find another provider who shares your views. Thank you for your time in reading this policy, and please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with our providers.