Moms in the spotlight are frequently criticized for everything, from the names they select for their kids to how they dress them, the type of rules they set, or even the length of their maternity leave.
Being a mother is hard work, and it comes with lots of difficult decisions — but choosing whether to vaccinate your kid or not should not be one of them.
Below we honor celebrity moms who know best when it comes to the importance of immunization across the world, and are using their platforms to spread the word.
Salma Hayek Pinault
Salma Hayek Pinault (@salmahayek) on
The famous actress advocates for worldwide immunizations as a UNICEF ambassador. She's received UNICEF’s Danny Kaye Humanitarian Award in 2018 for leading on UNICEF’s campaign to end maternal and neonatal tetanus.
“The thought of losing a child to a disease which can be easily prevented seems unbearable, especially when it is within our power to prevent it,” the actress stated. “If you knew how to help save a child’s life, what could stop you?”
Serena Williams
Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) on
In September 2011, Serena Williams became an official UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. She worked with UNICEF before, visiting Ghana and joining health workers in delivering vaccines to kids there.
She wasn’t a mother yet, but even then Williams said it was humbling to see all the children arriving for their immunizations.
As she said in 2009: “I have always dreamed of coming ... into a village like this, and just interacting with everyone. I just want to make sure that everyone is educated about these vaccines that are so important, and it is awesome that everyone is here.”
Kristen Bell
kristen bell (@kristenanniebell) on
Bell contributed a piece to HuffPost about vaccines in 2015. She admitted to initially leaning toward not vaccinating her kids — but doing research changed her mind. She wrote:
“I decided facts were my friends. I couldn't rely on word-of-mouth, friend-of-a-friend information. It was going to require actual research from vetted sources; I wanted the truth. Before I started my research, I had no idea what smallpox or polio looked like, and I bet you don't either. Most people aren't aware and therefore aren't afraid of diseases they've never seen — or sometimes haven't even heard of. We owe that peace of mind to the scientists who pioneered vaccines.”
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner (@jennifer.garner) on
Jennifer Garner, a mother of three kids, is an ambassador for the American Lung Association’s Face of Influenza campaign. She's been outspoken about the vital importance of vaccines.
“I want to help make sure that all moms across the country understand that influenza is serious and that vaccination should be a family priority,” she stated in March 2018.
Gal Gadot
Gal Gadot (@gal_gadot) on
Wonder Woman is also an ambassador for the American Lung Association’s Face of Influenza campaign. She is a mom of two girls (and was actually pregnant while shooting Justice League). In November 2018, she joined an Israeli vaccine campaign and posted a picture on Facebook.
“We’re all posting a photo with our hands on our vaccinated shoulders,” Gal Gadot wrote in Hebrew on her post, according to the Jerusalem Post.
She wrote: “Because an immunized environment is a protected environment in the eyes of medicine — listen to doctors. We should only experience health.”
Amanda Peet
Peet uses her platform to champion vaccines and addresses polio eradication. She's been doing so for many years, even before becoming Every Child By Two Ambassador to the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign.
“I think I'm just a concerned mom, and now that I have a newborn who's too young to be vaccinated, it really hit home for me. I think we've just kind of lost our sense of neighborliness. Even if it's not your child, your neighbor could have an infant at home or somebody whose immunity is compromised. Shouldn't we all be in this together?" she stated in 2015, months after giving birth to her son. “It's really scary. What's it going to take before we all get in this together? Are we going to see infant mortality rates? Because that would be infuriating and so tragic.”
Julie Bowen
Julie Bowen (@itsjuliebowen) on
Modern Family star looked to doctors for answers when it came time to vaccinate her children.
“I spoke with my sister, who is an infectious disease doctor — and then also with my own doctor and my pediatrician, who said to me: ‘By not vaccinating your children, you’re putting them at serious risk.’ That was it for me. Once I made that decision, there were a few tears — mostly mine — but now all three boys are on regular vaccination schedules,” she told WebMD.
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) on
A spokeswoman for the Sounds of Pertussis campaign, Jennifer Lopez seeks to raise awareness about the importance of vaccines which protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis.
“When I learned that many babies who get pertussis catch it from their parents, and how easy it is for adults to get vaccinated, I was shocked,” stated Lopez. “New and expectant parents have so many things to worry about. Getting pertussis themselves, or possibly spreading the disease to their own children, shouldn’t be one of them. I felt it was urgent to let parents know how important it is that they get vaccinated against pertussis to protect themselves and to help keep their babies safe from this dangerous disease.”
Keri Russell
After becoming a mother, Keri Russell also became a spokeswoman for Sounds of Pertussis. She learned that parents are often the ones that spread pertussis to their infants.
“Like any parent, I would do anything to protect my baby, and that's why I followed my pediatrician’s recommendation to get the pertussis vaccine myself,” she stated.
Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur (@marissajaretwinokur) on
When Hairspray star Marissa Jaret Winokur discovered the connection between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, she was on board with the vaccine immediately — having survived cervical cancer herself.
“I learned about a year ago that HPV, a common virus, causes cervical cancer. Now there is an HPV test that might have caught my precancerous cells earlier. There’s a vaccine, which can be given to women before they’re sexually active. It makes sense to take these precautions. I’ll encourage my friends’ teenage daughters to get vaccinated,” she said in 2007.
Routine vaccination has caused a decrease in childhood mortality rates worldwide as more kids become protected against diseases such as measles, cholera, pneumonia, and diphtheria.
Vaccines save two to three million lives each year, and another 1.5 million lives could be saved if coverage increased, as the World Health Organization reported.
Dispelling misinformation and reaffirming the significance, efficiency, and safety of vaccines is critical in the fight towards Global Goal 3 on good health and well-being for all.
Reference: Global Citizen
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