Why ensuring continued access to vaccines is essential to the health of America

When many of us think about vaccines, images of children lining up for the first doses of the polio vaccine may pop into your head. This was the first publicized vaccination campaign to eradicate an easily transmissible but now preventable disease.

Or perhaps you think of the more recent images of lines outside your local pharmacy as people waited to get their “jab” in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In reality, vaccines have been protecting people from communicable diseases long before the polio campaigns of the early 1960s. Louis Pasteur, the founder of germ theory, developed the first bacterial vaccine for chicken cholera in 1879 and quickly followed that with a live attenuated vaccine for the rabies virus in 1885.

As with most major advancements, government oversight soon came with the development of the Biologics Control Act of 1902, which set standards for the creation and maintenance of vaccines and antitoxins. From that time on, presidential administration after administration have worked to ensure the safety of and access to effective, lifesaving vaccinations. These efforts led to the eradication of smallpox and the near-eradication of polio.

The importance of prevention

In the U.S., the Vaccine for Kids Program was established in 1993 as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. This program was designed to provide federal funding for providing vaccines to children who would potentially not be able to afford them. Since its inception, this program has saved an estimated $540 billion while preventing an estimated 508 million cases of preventable illness, 32 million hospitalizations and over 1.1 million deaths, according to an August 2024 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Despite these successes, there has been an alarming downward trend in school-aged children receiving all of the currently recommended vaccinations. As vaccine skepticism and hesitancy continue to grow amid increasing mis- and disinformation, the nation has seen a steady drop in the percentage of children entering kindergarten with their full complement of vaccinations. According to a CDC report covering the 2023-24 school year, vaccination coverage among kindergarteners in the U.S. decreased for all reported vaccines from the year before. The global vaccine coverage rate of the first dose of the measles vaccine, at 83%, and the second dose, at 74%, were still well under the 95% coverage rate that health authorities recommend.

This has not been without consequence, as according to a January 2025 article in U.S. News and World Report, the nation has seen whooping cough (pertussis) cases raise by fivefold and measles cases by nearly fourfold between 2023 and 2024. Polio has also once again been found in New York wastewater. The Southwest is currently experiencing a large measles outbreak covering areas of Texas and New Mexico and claiming the lives of at least two individuals—one previously healthy child and one adult—both of whom were previously unvaccinated against measles. As of March 13, the U.S. has seen 301 confirmed cases of measles compared to just 285 in all of 2024, according to the CDC website.

It is imperative that we as osteopathic physicians speak up for science and ensure access to these life-saving monuments to public health. Here are a few tips for supporting vaccines and working with patients who express skepticism or hesitancy about vaccines.

Speak up, but stick to the science

For years, families have turned to their community pediatrician for advice on how best to care for their child, and each time we have provided them with the evidence behind our recommendations as we built relationships of trust. While misinformation has persistently eroded that trust, it is imperative that we consistently counter that message with evidence and truth while relying on the relationships we have built with families to educate and inform them slowly but persistently.

This process can only be successful if we insist on not falling into the trap of arguments and opinions and instead rely on science. Minds may not be changed in one visit, so patience is a must. Equally important is meeting the patient or family where they are as a starting point. I would avoid threatening to fire patients for initial resistance. By treating these discussions as an all-or-nothing event, we lose the ability to first provide the information and reaffirm it in follow-up visits; and remember, a child on an alternative vaccination schedule is more protected than a child on no vaccination schedule.

Remember all politics and advocacy start local

While advocacy at the federal level is very important, it is just as critical for first-line clinicians and physicians to advocate and support vaccines at the local level.

By that I mean not only at the state and community level, where many decisions about vaccine access and mandates or recommendations will be discussed and decided upon, but also at the individual level in your discussions with your patients and your patients’ parents.

Federally, it is important that we as physicians advocate for programs such as the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) to ensure that the Office of Management and Budget maintains its funding for these life-saving interventions. It is also important that funding remains in place for ongoing research and development of newer, more efficient vaccines as well as defense against emerging threats like the H5N1 bird influenza.

At the state level, vaccine policies are determined by the states with the guidance of federal agencies. Physicians can meet with their state legislators to advocate for policies that support ensuring access to vaccines. At the local level, we can support school board members and city council members who support evidence-based policies to protect our children.

Voting is key

The only way that we can ensure that pro-medicine, pro-science individuals are making decisions about the future of health care is to exercise our civic duty and vote to put those individuals in positions to set policy. This extends beyond Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to the local and state levels. An educated electorate is the first defense for evidence-based legislation. All legislators have public-facing websites where you can learn about the issues they prioritize, as well as contact information for their offices so you can bring your concerns to them. The AOA has resources for you based on your voting district on how to contact your representative as well as potential talking points for issues being championed by the AOA. Explore the Advocacy Action Center to learn more.

Ultimately, as it is said, sometimes if you want something done right you just have to do it yourself. You might consider running for public office; your unique expertise as a physician will be a major asset at any level and help you advance pro-medicine policies.

The time is now to take whatever action you are comfortable with or inspired to take. The future health of our children and our country depends on it.

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