Immunizations Specialist

What are immunizations?

Immunizations prepare your body to fight off infections before they infect you. Many diseases with available vaccines are life-threatening, so getting immunized for them keeps you safe from deadly or long-term effects. 

Immunization requires the use of vaccines, which are usually shots that go into your arm. Vaccines contain a weakened pathogen, a dead or inactive pathogen, or a protein from a pathogen that your immune system can recognize and later track down and eliminate. Your immune system builds antibodies against the antigens of the viruses or bacteria. 

Most immunizations require two shots that you get at different times. Raritan Family Healthcare helps you and your family members stay on track with the doses and boosters you need for optimum immunity. 

Which immunizations can I get?

Today, there are immunizations available for dozens of diseases that have harmed large segments of the population in the past. In fact, immunizations have almost fully eradicated a few diseases. 

Raritan Family Healthcare helps you and your kids keep up on the immunizations you need against diseases like:

• Polio
• Measles
• Chickenpox
• Whooping cough
• Tetanus
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Rubella
• Measles
• Mumps
• Rotavirus
• COVID-19

In addition to these vaccines, you can also get your annual flu vaccine at Raritan Family Healthcare. The flu vaccine changes each year according to the strains of the influenza virus predicted to be the most active during a given flu season. 

Are immunizations safe?

You may have heard people speculating about the safety of immunizations for themselves or their children. Fortunately, the vaccines available to the public have gone through rigorous testing and trials to prove their safety and efficacy. 

Some people experience mild symptoms in response to certain vaccines containing a weakened pathogen, like a virus. These symptoms do not last longer than a couple days and are far less severe than the symptoms that come with a full-blown infection. The risk for severe complications from vaccines is too small for experts to document. 

What should I expect while getting immunized?

A visit to Raritan Family Healthcare for a vaccine or vaccine update takes only a few minutes and doesn’t involve much discomfort. You sit comfortably as a provider rolls up your sleeve and cleans an area on your arm. Any discomfort is extremely quick and over very soon. 

Your provider might ask you to stick around for a short observation period before you go home, likely around 15 minutes. If you don’t show any signs of a negative reaction, you can go home or back to work or school immediately. 

Your arm might feel a bit sore for the rest of the day, and you can manage any soreness with an over-the-counter pain reliever. 

Find out more about the vaccines you and your children need next by calling Raritan Family Healthcare or by booking your next visit online today.