Maximizing Children Health Starts with Vaccinations

Whether diseases start at home or school, parents can take action today to protect their children against viruses such as influenza and measles.

In the United States, the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program has effectively removed a significant barrier to protecting children from diseases by eliminating financial costs for eligible children.

According to the U.S. CDC's Vital Signs MMWR dated August 13, 2024, approximately 52.2% of U.S. children were eligible for the VFC program. The remaining children may be eligible for various vaccine discount programs from non-profits and pharmaceutical companies.

Since 1994, the VFC program has been crucial in increasing and maintaining high levels of childhood vaccination coverage for 30 years. However, in late 2024, there are still gaps in vaccination coverage.

In 2023, VFC distributed over 74 million doses of pediatric vaccines to participating healthcare providers.

The CDC emphasized the need for enhanced efforts to ensure that parents and guardians of VFC-eligible children are informed, confident, and capable of obtaining all recommended vaccines on the current schedule.

During a related Vital Signs Telebriefing, Dr. Deborah Houry, CDC chief medical officer, commented, "Routine vaccination of children born during 1994 to 2023 will have prevented 508 million illnesses, saved over 1 million lives, and saved nearly 2.7 trillion in societal costs."

"This means that every dollar spent on childhood immunizations results in a savings of approximately $11."

"Vaccines have saved lives for over 100 years, but serious disease is still a major threat to those unvaccinated. Getting vaccinated on time is essential throughout childhood and with back-to-school around the corner."

"And this is where healthcare providers have such a key role, is ensuring that confidence and having conversations with parents, and this is where media also has an important role in increasing confidence in the science that we do and promoting the need for vaccines, particularly as all of our kiddos are going back to school."