Vaccine Policy

As Mia Bella embraces family-centered care for all of our patients, we want to maintain a safe environment where our families can receive exceptional medical care compliant with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Mia Bella soundly believes that vaccines are safe, effective and save lives. As of January 1, 2018, we will no longer accept new patients who do not plan to immunize their children. Existing patients who are not adequately vaccinated are asked to schedule an appointment with their primary care provider to work together to formulate a plan to immunize their children. While we respect each family’s decision-making, existing families who are not willing to vaccinate their children will be asked to find another health care provider who shares more similar beliefs. This is because not vaccinating puts your child and other children at unnecessary risk for illness, disability and even death.

Vaccinations have proved to be a victim of their own success. The vaccination of prior generations has led to many of today’s parents never experiencing or seeing a loved one suffer from or succumb to polio, tetanus, whooping cough or bacterial meningitis. This success can lead to families mistakenly thinking that these illnesses no longer exist and therefore do not need vaccine protection. As this misbelief has become more widespread, we are seeing increasing numbers of cases of illnesses such as measles, whooping cough and chicken pox which are potentially deadly.

Choosing not to vaccinate or to under-vaccinate your child at risk but also puts at risk our young and chronically ill children who are unable to receive the vaccines due to medical contraindications. Vaccination of the majority of the population leads to heard immunity, where the immunization of most leads to greater protection for all.

This policy is not intended to scare or coerce any family but rather to emphasize the importance of vaccinations. Mia Bella recognizes that the choice to vaccinate may be very personal for some parents. We commit to do everything we can to help you understand that vaccinating according to our schedule is the safest thing for your child and our community. Please discuss any concerns you have with your pediatrician and, if requested, a modified schedule may be designed to accommodate parental concerns while still meeting the minimum requirements. Such additional visits will require co-pays on the part of the family and some insurance plans are not covering these visits as they expect vaccinations to all be completed at well child visits.

We believe strongly that vaccines are effective in preventing serious illness and saving lives, and we are dedicated to preventing illness for our families. We believe strongly that the vaccines we provide are safe and that all children should receive all of the recommended vaccines published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control. The recommended vaccines and schedule are the results of many years of scientific research by thousands of the brightest physicians and scientists.

Every pediatrician at Mia Bella has vaccinated their own children fully and on time, following the schedule created by the AAP and CDC. We passionately believe that vaccinating children in a timely manner is the best choice for all children. Thank you for taking the time to read this policy and please discuss any concerns you may have with any of our pediatricians.

• Hepatitis B vaccine: three doses prior to age one
• DTaP (diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis) vaccine: four doses prior to 18 months
• Hib (Haemophilus influenza type B) vaccine: four doses prior to 18 months
• PCV-13 (Pneumococcal) vaccine: four doses prior to 18 months
• IPV (inactivated polio) vaccine: three doses prior to 18 months
• First MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) vaccine prior to 18 months
• First Varicella (chicken pox) vaccine prior to 18 months
• Hepatitis A vaccine: two doses prior to age two
• Second MMR and Varicella or evidence of immunity to these diseases prior to age six
• Fourth IPV prior to age six
• Fifth DTaP prior to age six
• Tdap prior to 7th grade
• First meningococcal vaccine prior to age 16



• AAP Immunization Safety
• CDC Immunization Information Page
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Information Center