The Vaccines for Children (VFC) legislation was passed 30 years ago, established to “ensure that children below the federal poverty level and those without health insurance have access to critical, lifesaving vaccines that can protect their health throughout their lives.” CDC has the release.
According to CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deb Houry, the legislation has “prevented more than 1.1 million deaths.” For instance, almost 90% of VFC-eligible children “born during 2011–2020 received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine,” and there were “no differences in receipt of the MMR vaccine found among VFC-eligible children born in 2020 by race and ethnicity, poverty status, and urban-rural residency.”
A CDC report further found that “for children born during 1994–2023, routine childhood vaccinations will have prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1,129,000 deaths, resulting in societal savings of nearly $2.7 trillion, including a direct savings of $540 billion.”
However, new reportage shows that progress still needs to be made. For instance, only “61% of VFC-eligible children…received 7 selected vaccines…by their second birthday,” and “vaccination coverage was lowest (74-77%) for vaccines that require multiple doses.”
CDC recommends that healthcare providers “offer accurate information on vaccination benefits;” “give catch-up vaccines and review for needed vaccines;” “strengthen relationships with families;” and “use reminder/recall systems to inform patients of upcoming or missed shots.”
