Skipping or delaying vaccinations can be harmful, especially if it’s someone who is more vulnerable or susceptible to illness, such as children, elderly, or the immunocompromised. There are risks all over the world, no matter where you are—humans are not invincible to illnesses. Although we have great medicine and clinical trials that enhance our knowledge on health often, it is very important to get vaccinations on time and not to skip them. There are clinical trials such as the CureVac clinical trial that seek to prove the effectiveness of vaccines, so if you’re concerned, take a look at real studies that can demonstrate the benefits and safeness. Here are 5 impacts of skipping or delaying vaccinations that will show you why getting them on time are so important:

1. Medical implications
The risks for being unvaccinated don’t stop at severe illness or disease, if your child is unvaccinated, this can present issues in their future. For example, there are different treatments for those who are unvaccinated versus those who are. At every visit to a hospital, you must alert staff of vaccination status to receive the proper treatment, but most doctors are mainly educated on health and medicine in vaccinated individuals. Unvaccinated care may seem out of the ordinary for some doctors, and treatment and procedures may be less familiar or they may be less experienced with them.

2. Isolation from others and social implications
There are social implications of being unvaccinated, whether that be you or your child is exposed to illness and asked to quarantine, an outbreak in the community that has you or your child asked to leave school or other organized activities, and more. If your child experiences social implications like this, this can also impact your daily life and lose you a day of work to stay home and watch them.

3. Serious illness or even death
Vaccinations are administered to provide immunity and build up immune system resilience to various viruses, illnesses, and diseases. Without these vaccinations, certain diseases can cause serious, severe illness, or worse, death. For example, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine prevents people from getting HPV, a disease that can cause cervical cancer, head and neck cancers, and other types of cancers that can be lethal.

4. Can complicate pregnancy
Unvaccinated women who are pregnant can put themselves and their unborn child at very serious risk—if they are exposed to certain diseases it can cause serious harm. For example, if an unvaccinated pregnant woman contracts rubella in her first trimester, her baby could develop congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), and the baby could be born with heart defects, deafness, or developmental delays.

5. Harming the vulnerable immunocompromised
Not only does being unvaccinated cause implications for you or your child, it also causes implications for those around you. Individuals with compromised immune systems rely on other members of the public being vaccinated so their risk of exposure is reduced and they can stay healthy. For example, individuals with leukemia are immunocompromised and cannot get vaccinated to protect themselves.