Each August, National Immunization Awareness Month is observed nationwide to promote the importance of vaccinations. Vaccines have dramatically changed medicine over the last century–in fact, “few medical interventions can compete with vaccines for their cumulative impact of health and well-being of entire populations.” According to the CDC’s Fast Facts on Global Immunization, about 4 million deaths worldwide are prevented by childhood immunizations each year. By 2030, it’s estimated that 19 million lives will be saved by the measles vaccination and 14 million lives will be saved by the hepatitis B vaccination. Vaccines also play a vital role in hindering the development of antibiotic-resistant microbes. Vaccines help prevent disease-related infections, which means fewer antibiotics are used, and antibiotic resistance is less likely to develop.
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These benefits are achieved safely and cost-effectively. Vaccines can cause mild, temporary side effects, such as soreness at the vaccination site. Severe side effects from vaccines are possible, but very rare, typically occurring in approximately 1 out of 100,000 to 1 out of 1 million, depending on the vaccine. The safety of individual vaccines is carefully tracked and published on the CDC’s website. The risk of developing severe side effects from vaccine-preventable diseases is far greater. For example, approximately 1 in 5 individuals who contract measles require hospitalization, 1 in 10 develop pneumonia, and 1 to 3 out of every 1000 will die from the disease. Even when an individual experiences no severe side effects from a vaccine-preventable disease, they place others at risk of contracting the disease and its complications. Routine childhood vaccinations often present no monetary costs to individuals in the U.S.; they are fully covered by private insurance or through the federally funded Vaccines for Children Program. Moreover, they protect individuals from monetary costs stemming from vaccine-preventable illness, such as “associated out-of-pocket medical expenses, healthcare provider costs, and losses in wages of patients and caregivers.”. They also protect communities from monetary costs. “The United States spends nearly $27 billion treating adults for diseases that could have been prevented with vaccinations,” and it is estimated that vaccinations administered to children born in the U.S. between 1994 and 2013 will have “a net savings of $295 billion in direct costs and $1.38 trillion in total societal costs.”
Vaccination is vital to public health and welfare. However, childhood vaccination rates are declining in the U.S., with some rates dropping below what is needed to prevent disease transmission. Some of the factors contributing to this trend include vaccine misinformation, low levels of health literacy among parents, and lack of access to vaccine services. The CDC provides strategies to help providers and health partners encourage immunization, as well as recommended vaccine schedules for children. Emory University and Healthcare affiliates can access the point of care tool DynaMed for additional resources on Immunizations in Adults, Children and Adolescents, and Immunocompromised individuals. Within the U.S., individuals can locate nearby community and mobile health clinics that provide immunizations using the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Find a Health Center tool and Harvard’s mobile health map. Students at Emory University can find information about immunizations and make immunization appointments at Student Health Services.