{"id":2087,"date":"2026-08-04T10:48:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/?p=2087"},"modified":"2026-08-04T10:48:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T14:48:53","slug":"august-in-national-immunization-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/?p=2087","title":{"rendered":"August in National Immunization Awareness Month!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each August,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>National Immunization Awareness Month<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>observed<\/span>\u00a0nationwide to promote the importance of vaccinations.\u00a0<\/span>Vaccines have dramatically changed medicine over the last century\u2013in fact,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201cfew medical interventions can compete with vaccines for their cumulative impact of health and well-being of entire populations.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>A<\/span>ccording<\/span>\u00a0to the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>CDC\u2019s Fast Facts on Global Immunization<\/span><\/span><\/a>, about 4 million deaths worldwide are prevented by childhood immunizations each year. By 2030,\u00a0<\/span>it\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0estimated that 19 million lives will be saved by the measles vaccination and 14 million lives will be saved by the hepatitis B vaccination.\u00a0<\/span>Vaccines also\u00a0<\/span><\/span>play a vital role<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0in hindering the development of antibiotic-resistant microbes<\/span>. V<\/span>accines\u00a0<\/span>help prevent disease-related infections,\u00a0<\/span>which means fewer antibiotics are used,\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0antibiotic resistance<\/span>\u00a0is less likely to<\/span>\u00a0develo<\/span>p<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Generated with Microsoft CoPilot AI \u2219 August 6, 2024 at 11:48 AM<\/p><\/div>\n

These benefits\u00a0<\/span><\/span>are achieved safely and cost-effectively<\/span><\/span>. Vaccines<\/span>\u00a0can cause mild, temporary side effects, such as soreness at the vaccination site. Severe side effects from vaccines are possible, but\u00a0<\/span>very rare<\/span>, typically\u00a0<\/span><\/span>occurring in approximately 1 out of 100,000 to 1 out of 1 million, depending on the vaccine.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/a>The<\/span>\u00a0safety of individual vaccines is carefully tracked and published on the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>CDC\u2019s website<\/span><\/span><\/a>. The risk of developing severe side effects from vaccine-preventable diseases is far greater.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>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.<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Even when an individual experiences no severe side effects from a vaccine-preventable disease, they place others at risk<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>of contracting the disease and its complications<\/span><\/span>. 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\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Vaccines for Children Program.<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0Moreover, they protect individuals from monetary costs stemming from vaccine-preventable illness, such as\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u201cassociated out-of-pocket medical expenses, healthcare provider costs, and losses in wages of patients and caregivers.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/a>. They also protect communities from monetary costs. \u201c<\/span><\/span>The United States spends nearly\u00a0<\/span>$27 billion<\/span>\u00a0treating adults for diseases that could have been prevented with vaccinations,<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u201d and it is estimated that vaccinations administered to children born in the U.S. between 1994 and 2013 will have \u201c<\/span><\/span>a net savings of\u00a0<\/span>$295 billion<\/span>\u00a0in direct costs and\u00a0<\/span>$1.38 trillion<\/span>\u00a0in total societal costs.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vaccination is vital to public health and welfare. However,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>childhood vaccination rates are declining in the U<\/span>.<\/span>S<\/span>.<\/span>, with some rates dropping below\u00a0<\/span>what is n<\/span>eed<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0to prevent disease transmission.<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Some<\/span>\u00a0of the factors contributing to this trend include\u00a0<\/span><\/span>vaccine misinformation, low levels of health literacy among parents, and lack of access to vaccine services<\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>The CDC provides\u00a0<\/span><\/span>strategies to help providers and health partners encourage immunization<\/span><\/span><\/a>, as well as\u00a0<\/span><\/span>recommended vaccine schedules for children<\/span><\/span><\/a>. Emory University and Healthcare affiliates can access the point of care tool\u00a0<\/span>DynaMed<\/span>\u00a0for\u00a0<\/span>additional<\/span>\u00a0resources on Immunizations in\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Adults<\/span><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Children and Adolescents<\/span><\/span><\/a>, and<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Immunocompromised<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0individuals. Within the U.S., individuals can\u00a0<\/span>locate<\/span>\u00a0nearby community and mobile health clinics that provide immunizations using the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Health Resources and Services Administration\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Find a Health Center tool<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and Harvard\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/span>mobile health map<\/span><\/span><\/a>. Students\u00a0<\/span><\/span>at Emory University can find information about immunizations and make immunization appointments at\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Student Health Services<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each August,\u00a0National Immunization Awareness Month\u00a0is\u00a0observed\u00a0nationwide to promote the importance of vaccinations.\u00a0Vaccines have dramatically changed medicine over the last century\u2013in fact,\u00a0\u201cfew medical interventions can compete with vaccines for their cumulative impact of health and well-being of entire populations.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0According\u00a0to the\u00a0CDC\u2019s Fast Facts on Global Immunization, about 4 million deaths worldwide are prevented by childhood immunizations each year. Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8372,"featured_media":1918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-2087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-awareness-month"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/files\/2024\/08\/ai_immunization.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2087"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2088,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2087\/revisions\/2088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scholarblogs.emory.edu\/whscl-news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}