Routine childhood vaccination in the United States has significantly reduced illness, hospitalization, and death from vaccine-preventable diseases, making once common diseases like diphtheria, measles, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) now rare. For example, before the development and distribution of the measles vaccines in 1963, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years of age. Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000 due to increased measures to vaccinate all children. Measles is considered eliminated when the disease stops spreading continuously for more than 12 months. Measles cases and sometimes outbreaks can occur but mostly among unvaccinated or under-vaccinated populations. Every year, measles is brought into the United States by people who are unvaccinated who travel to other countries where measles is still common. While vaccines have been proven to be incredibly effective, disease uptake can occur, like what we have seen recently with measles, due to factors like vaccine refusal, barriers to access, and misinformation about disease risk and treatment.
“The value of vaccinations can be seen in the recent measles outbreak in Texas. From a recent report from Texas, of the 327 identified cases, only two had evidence of previous measles vaccinations,” Dr. Albert Rizzo, the American Lung Association Chief Medical Officer agreed.
A History of Childhood Vaccination
Vaccines have a long and impactful history, which started with Dr. Edward Jenner who created the world’s first successful vaccine for smallpox in 1796. Initially, many were uncertain about the process fearing they could contract cowpox through the vaccine, but through extensive testing the vaccine was proven effective to protect against smallpox and used in the U.S starting in 1801. By 1855, the smallpox vaccine become mandatory within some states as a measure to help protect children in schools. In the early 20th century, routinely recommended vaccines were created for protection against diseases like diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, which were later combined and given as the DTP vaccine. “Around 1900, well before vaccines were available, almost 20% of children died before their fifth birthday and the most common causes were infectious disease that can be prevented by the vaccines, we have available today,” explains Dr. Rizzo.
By 1955 the long-awaited polio vaccine was created, followed by vaccines for measles (1963), mumps (1967) and rubella (1969), which were later combined in 1971 into the MMR vaccine. Thanks to the success of vaccination, the World Health Assembly declared smallpox eradicated in 1980 with no cases of natural occurring smallpox as of 1977. Today, smallpox is the only human disease that has been eradicated.
“Vaccination is the best way to prevent the development of significant disease from one of these organisms. Once the disease is contracted, there are not often specific therapies other than supportive care for some of these infections and they can be deadly,” Dr. Rizzo continued.
In 1989-1991 measles outbreaks resulted in tens of thousands of cases of measles and 166 of deaths. This outbreak was largely due to low vaccination rates in preschool-aged children where CDC found that among children aged 16-59 months who developed measles, only 15% had been vaccinated. The main reason that children did not get vaccinated was due to cost. Hoping to bridge the gap and save lives, Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) on August 10, 1993, which led to the creation of the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program in October 1, 1994. According to the CDC, since the VFC program began, among 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 direct savings of $540 billion and societal savings of $2.7 trillion.
How the VCF Program Works
The goal of the VFC Program is to ensure that all eligible children have access to receive recommended vaccinations to protect against 19 different diseases, even if their parent or guardian is unable to afford the cost of the vaccine. Through the VFC program, children ages 18 and younger who are Medicaid-eligible, uninsured, underinsured, or American Indian or Alaskan Native are automatically covered to receive routine vaccinations that are recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the CDC The VFC program provides opportunity to protect children’s health, reduce illness and hospitalization and minimize barriers to vaccination. Learn more about the VFC program at cdc.gov/vaccines-for-children.
Benefits of Routine Vaccinations
Vaccines have saved lives and prevented illness for over 100 years and are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from severe complications, hospitalization and death. Immunizations help teach the immune system how to defend against germs. The recommended routine vaccination schedule helps balance when a child is likely to be exposed to a disease and when the vaccine will be most effective.
Most vaccine-preventable diseases are spread from person to person, which means that if one person in a community gets an infectious disease, they can easily spread it to others. Immunity through immunization is safer than natural immunity. You cannot predict the severity of illness from a disease and immunity from infection comes after you get sick. Some diseases you can get sick from multiple times. That is risky. An individual can help stop the spread of certain diseases through vaccination. If the general population is vaccinated, there are fewer opportunities for vaccine-preventable diseases to spread. That is community immunity. And it helps protect our most vulnerable community members who may not be able to be vaccinated (like babies) or have weakened immune systems.
“The annual vaccines that are recommended are to maintain a level of immunity that often wanes with time and also to protect against the variants that occur, especially with influenza and COVID,” said Dr. Rizzo. It’s important that individuals talk to their healthcare provider about recommended routine vaccinations to help protect against serious diseases.
Learn more about how vaccines protect against infectious respiratory diseases by visiting Lung.org/vaccines.
Blog last updated: April 4, 2025
