The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has revealed that routine childhood vaccinations will have averted hundreds of millions of illnesses, tens of millions of hospitalizations, and over 1 million deaths for individuals born between 1994 and 2023.
According to CNN, the report, published on Thursday, details the significant health and economic benefits derived from the CDC’s Vaccines for Children Program, initiated in 1994.
The study conducted by researchers at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases offers a comprehensive analysis of the impact of routine immunizations for children born between 1994 and 2023.
The findings underscore the profound effect of nine vaccines, which include those for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), poliovirus, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, varicella, hepatitis A, pneumococcal conjugate, and rotavirus.
The research estimates that these vaccines have prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and over 1.13 million deaths in the U.S.
The benefits are not just limited to health outcomes; the economic savings are equally staggering.
The vaccinations are credited with saving $540 billion in direct medical costs and $2.7 trillion in broader societal costs, such as lost productivity due to parental care for sick children.
A pediatrician at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, Dr. Sara Siddiqui, praised the findings, calling the report a “testament to the success” of vaccinations. “These are vaccinations that are currently recommended in the childhood vaccination series and also are provided at reduced cost as part of the Vaccines For Children Program,” Siddiqui noted in an email. She emphasized the importance of vaccinations in maintaining child health, stating, “My job as a pediatrician is to keep children healthy and out of the hospital. Vaccinations are a way to keep children healthy and prevent severity of disease.”
The CDC’s Vaccines for Children program was born out of necessity after a measles epidemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which led to thousands of infections and hundreds of deaths.
The epidemic revealed that a significant portion of the affected children had not been vaccinated, prompting the CDC to establish the program to provide free vaccines to eligible children under 18.
In 2023, approximately 54% of children qualified for the program, highlighting its ongoing relevance.
Despite the program’s success, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted routine childhood vaccination efforts, both in the U.S. and globally.
Reduced access to primary care, logistical challenges, and vaccine hesitancy contributed to a decline in vaccination coverage.
This decline mirrored a global trend, with organizations like the World Health Organization and UNICEF noting that the world has yet to return to pre-pandemic vaccination levels.
The report concludes that to address these challenges, expanding the network of vaccine providers, especially in underserved areas, is essential.
The pandemic-induced “historic backslide” in vaccination rates, as described by Dr. Katherine O’Brien of WHO, highlights the urgent need to restore and enhance immunization services to safeguard future generations from preventable diseases.
