This article appeared on WLNS 6. Read more here.
It’s National Infant Immunization Week, and the main focus is to ensure not only that children receive vaccinations, but are receiving them on time.
Global immunization coverage for infants dropped to 81% in 2021, marking the lowest rate in more than a decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A May 2020 report from CDC found that routine childhood vaccinations had fallen short as families followed public health warnings to stay at home.
Giving babies the recommended vaccinations by age two is the best way to protect them from 14 serious childhood diseases, such as whooping cough and measles, the CDC reports.
Furthermore, according to the CDC, vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools for preventing disease and death.
The U.S. has a long-standing vaccine safety system, and as new information and science become available, vaccine recommendations are monitored, updated, and improved.
The CDC reports that for almost all children, the disease-prevention benefits of vaccinations are far greater than the possible side effects.
Four million deaths worldwide are prevented by childhood vaccination each year.
If you’d like more information on the disease prevention schedule, you can visit the CDC website by clicking here.