Welcome to our new feature, the “Chairman’s Corner,” where Joseph V. Schwab, Jr., MD, MPH, FAAP, our Board Chair, will periodically share health information and community resources. Dr. Schwab specializes in pediatric care and has over 20 years of experience in hospital and community care. Throughout the series, he will also invite guests to share their expertise in medicine and public health. In our first post, Dr. Schwab highlights the importance of vaccines.
Routine immunization has successfully eliminated or dramatically reduced the incidence of many infectious diseases in the United States. Despite vaccine availability and routine recommendations to vaccinate, approximately 42,000 adults and 300 children in the US die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases. It has been estimated that routine immunization of all children born in one year can prevent 20 million cases of disease, reduce direct health care costs by $13.5 billion, and save $68.8 billion in total societal costs (Fangjun, et al.). A recent analysis published by Zhou et al. in MMWR estimated that routine immunizations provided in the US during the era of the Vaccines for Children Program (1994-2023) prevented 508 million lifetime cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and 1,129,000 deaths, resulting in savings of $540 billion in direct costs and $2.7 trillion in societal costs.
We know that immunization rates have declined in recent years. Measles was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 due to the success of the MMR vaccine. However, more than 61 million doses of measles-containing vaccine were postponed from 2020 to 2022 due to COVID-19 related delays, and immunization rates have not recovered. As a result, US Measles cases were up in 2024. There were 285 cases of measles. 42% of these were in children under age 5 years, and 40% of cases required hospitalization. 89% of cases were in unvaccinated children or in children with unknown vaccine status. So far, in 2025 there have been 378 cases of measles; 33% have been in children under age 5 years; 17% have required hospitalization; and 95% have been in unvaccinated children or in children with unknown vaccine status. There have been two deaths from measles so far in 2025.
Other vaccines have been slow to gain acceptance. HPV vaccine has been available in the US since 2006. HPV is a virus that causes several types of cancers in men and women. According to CDC, it is responsible for 11,000 cases of cervical cancer, 14,000 cases of throat cancer, and 11,000 cases of other genital and anal cancers annually. Cervical cancer still kills 4,000 people each year in the US. It is estimated that the HPV vaccine could prevent more than 90% of these cancers. In New Jersey 77.5% of adolescent males and 73.4% of adolescent females received one dose of the HPV vaccine in 2022. Only 63.7% of adolescents completed the HPV vaccination series. This leaves a large number of people unprotected against a ubiquitous virus that causes important and preventable cancers.
These statistics point to the urgent need to address vaccine hesitancy and encourage widespread uptake of vaccines, which we know can help eliminate disease and improve the health of our communities. Vaccine hesitancy, which describes why individuals choose to delay or refuse immunizations for themselves or their families, is a complex problem. It is influenced by several factors, including low perceived need or value for immunizations, which can vary from one vaccine to another and over time. For some, it can involve problems with access to vaccine services. And, for others, it is related to varying levels of trust in individual vaccines, the vaccine development process, and in vaccine providers.
One important factor is social media. A 2012 study found that up to 72% of American internet users trusted health information obtained on the internet; however, 75% did not critically evaluate the source of the information they viewed. Common misconceptions about vaccines include beliefs that vaccines cause autism, that they are full of toxins, that it makes no difference whether families choose to delay or space out vaccines instead of relying on the official CDC vaccine schedule, and that it is better to develop immunity by getting the natural disease rather than by immunization.
If we are to have an impact on immunization rates, we need to address vaccine concerns thoughtfully and with empathy. We need to help families understand that vaccines are well tested and safe, that side effects are minimal, and that severe side effects are extremely rare. We need to highlight the health benefits of being fully vaccinated. We also need to emphasize that following the recommended vaccine schedule is the best way to assure that a child is up to date and well protected. We know that children who follow an alternative immunization schedule are 4 times less likely to be up to date than those who follow the recommended schedule.
We need to build demand for vaccines. Vaccines must be easy to obtain: convenient and affordable. They must be perceived as beneficial, desirable, normative, and necessary. Messengers of vaccine information include everyone reading this article: health care professionals, internet and social media content developers, religious and community leaders, public health and government authorities. Each of us can serve as a source of information, encouragement, and assistance in our communities and for our friends and families, so that all of us can enjoy the benefits of a strong immunization program. The Partnership and its outreach programs, including the Essex Metro Immunization Coalition are here to help you along the way.
Learn more about our immunization education programs here.