DR. SIOBHAN DUNNAVANT
As published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on August 15, 2026
The calendar flips to August, and parents everywhere know what’s coming. The rush to buy new backpacks, meet new teachers and adapt to new schedules. Almost without fail, the first round of sniffles kicks in, too, with a few hundred kids back in the same building together.
It’s a ritual as familiar as the school supply aisle at your local store. But this year, more parents than I’ve seen in my 25 years of practice are heading into fall with real uncertainty about what to do when their pediatrician brings up vaccines. That uncertainty is understandable. There is a lot of noise out there right now around immunizations, and not all of it is grounded in fact. I want parents to know you deserve clear, honest information, and the conversation about what’s right for your child belongs with your doctor, not cable news or social media.
Respiratory season typically peaks between October and March, with flu, RSV and other viruses cycling through classrooms with remarkable efficiency. Seriously, school hallways are among the most efficient germ-sharing environments on Earth. For most kids, that means a miserable week stuck at home on the couch; but for some, it means serious complications and hospitalizations.
Vaccines have saved more children’s lives than almost any other medical intervention in history. That’s a fact supported by decades of rigorous, independent science from researchers all over the world. The system that reviews vaccines is not perfect as no human institution is —but it is serious, independent and built around one question: Is this safe and effective for children?
Childhood vaccines are not one-size-fits-all mandates imposed from above. They are the product of decades of research, clinical trials and reviews by panels of independent physicians and scientists whose entire job is to evaluate safety and efficacy data, weigh them against real-world risks and make evidence-based recommendations. That process exists to protect your child.
As a doctor who has spent decades delivering babies and caring for families, I truly believe parents are more than capable of making good decisions for their children. They do it every single day in each area of their lives. What they need is access to accurate, transparent, unfiltered information from sources they can trust and a doctor who will listen. Resources like Advocates for Healthy Kids exist precisely to give parents straightforward, unbiased information about children’s health without political noise. And for families who want vaccines, that access must be protected. Every parent who chooses to vaccinate their child should be able to do so — without barriers, without bureaucracy and without having that option quietly taken off the table. When families are left without clear, trustworthy information, children are the ones who pay the price.
The decision about whether and when to vaccinate should be made in a doctor’s office between a physician and the patient. Ask every question you have. Get all the data. Understand the evidence. That’s shared medical decision-making at its best.
If your child’s immunization record has gaps, ask about them. If you’ve heard something that made you uncertain, say so. Your providers have seen the evidence. They know your child. They went to medical school, completed residencies and have spent their careers doing exactly this. They do all of that because they genuinely care about your kids, plus many of them are parents themselves, treating your family with the same devotion they bring to their own. That relationship is one of the most valuable tools you have as a parent. Trust it.
This fall, as backpacks get loaded and school buses resume their routes, the single most effective thing a parent can do to protect their child’s health is to stay informed and stay in conversation with their doctor or provider. Use your school physical appointment to get all the answers you need. Parents deserve to make choices based on science, in partnership with their doctors, free from noise, pressure and confusion manufactured by those with political agendas.
Dr. Siobhan Dunnavant is a board-certified OB-GYN with more than 25 years of experience, former Virginia state senator and the spokesperson for Advocates for Healthy Kids. She can be reached at drdunnavant@healthykidsalliance.com.