Of 4 million lives saved worldwide by childhood vaccinations annually, 2 to 3 million are children.
Childhood vaccinations are one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of our time for several reasons. First, they prevent infectious diseases from spreading. A pre-pandemic study by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that routine childhood vaccinations averted more than 24 million cases of vaccine-preventable diseases among 328 million Americans.
Second, childhood vaccinations prevent 4 million deaths worldwide every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Of these lives saved, 2 to 3 million are children, says UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2023 report.
Crisis in vaccine confidence
Unfortunately, childhood vaccination rates dipped during the pandemic due to disruptions in healthcare services, fear of being exposed to COVID-19, and a surge in misinformation about vaccines. UNICEF found that in the United States alone, only 79 percent perceive vaccines as important for children. This represents a drop of about 15 percent since the start of the pandemic.
Parents’ hesitancy to vaccinate their children can result in outbreaks of deadly diseases – measles and polio, for example – previously eliminated by vaccinations.
We help schools boost childhood immunizations
Primary.Health’s partnership with the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to provide COVID-19 testing and vaccinations in thousands of schools highlighted educators’ critical role in community health. Besides offering access to healthcare, schools are a vital source of parental education about the importance of regular childhood vaccinations and other health concerns.
That’s why we designed school health management tools that make it easy to integrate, monitor, and report on student immunizations. Our system flags students with missing vaccination records and prompts to send parent reminders. We can even schedule pop-up vaccination clinics for schools with large immunization gaps.
As we wind down National Infant Immunization Week, join us in championing vaccinations for every child to build healthier families, schools, and communities:
- Individuals: Encourage friends and family to catch up on pediatric well visits and childhood vaccinations;
- Communities: Promote childhood immunization with resources from the CDC and World Health Organization and schedule pop-up vaccination clinics with Primary.Health;
- Schools: Partner with Primary.Health to make childhood vaccinations more accessible in schools and communities.
Learn more about our tools to improve childhood vaccination rates here.
