Should you vaccinate your child?

by David Boyle

To vaccinate your child or not, that is the question – and it’s your choice.

Dr. Bob Sears, a pediatrician with 28 years of clinical experience, recently presented on “Why are More Families Now Opting Out of Vaccines and Are They Right?” at our October 3 Alaskans For Personal Freedom event in Anchorage.

He discussed several childhood diseases and the effectiveness of the specific vaccines on each disease. Did the vaccine prevent the disease? Did the vaccine prevent transmission of the disease? And what were the vaccine side effects?

For example, the pertussis vaccine may not keep you from getting whooping cough, as it mainly reduces the symptoms. The vaccine might make your case milder, but you will still be just as contagious, and you could unknowingly spread it to your grandchild. As a matter of fact, the vaccine may make you more likely to get whooping cough, he noted.

On the other hand, if you don’t get the pertussis vaccine, you will know you have whooping cough and could thus not spread it to others

Want to hear more about childhood vaccines? Read the rest of the story here: https://alaskawatchman.com/2026/10/26/opinion-should-you-vaccinate-your-child/