Vaccination And Immunizations

There are diseases out in the world that are preventable with a simple solution: vaccines. While most children have received them or still are receiving them, there is still a population of people who are not vaccinated causing several problems. An ongoing issue with vaccinations is that low-income families are unable to afford the proper immunizations to protect themselves and their children from diseases. Vaccinations and immunizations are essential and given in an effort to protect all humans from deadly diseases. They are the utmost important during one’s childhood years as children are the most vulnerable to contracting infections. With the use of vaccines, children are able to build immunity to diseases that once wiped out many populations (CDC, 2014).
Unfortunately, there are some parents who do not get their children vaccinated due to financial issues or lack of healthcare, which causes a problem for those parents who are unable to vaccinate their children who are prone to medical illnesses.
This is especially the problem in third world countries and in rural areas. The costs for immunizations have been directly increasing which makes it difficult for low socioeconomic families to keep up with series of shots and newer ones as well (Chen, Messonnier, & Zhou, 2016) In 2014, only 71% of low-income children were vaccinated compared to the 82% of those who were vaccinated at or above the poverty line (Child Trends, 2015). Moreover, statistics showed that there was a positive correlation of vaccinations and the existence of pro-rich inequality (Restrepo-Méndez et al., 2016). This meaning, children coming from a wealthier family were more likely to get immunized due to vaccination
costs. This longstanding problem affects low-income families the greatest because they are at a higher risk for contracting vaccine-preventable diseases. Many times low income families are unable to afford proper health care for themselves and their children making it difficult for them to receive few, or any vaccinations due to expenses. While there is a program called Vaccines for Children that allows low-income families to get vaccinations for free, there are barriers that prevent this from happening smoothly. Different states require different coverage, making it difficult for families and the government to keep up with the regulations (National and State Vaccination, 2011). Immunizations are vital for all children who are able to physically receive them. There are some who cannot rely on vaccinations due to young age and medical conditions. If not vaccinated, diseases that have been abolished in various parts of the world, would once again become active. If the child were to contract a vaccine-preventable disease, then medical costs would rise causing more stress on both the low-income family and those who are susceptible to these infections (and are unable to receive immunizations). At such a young age, children’s immune systems are vulnerable and at high risk of contracting diseases, which is why vaccinations are so important at this time of life (Omer, Salmon, Orenstein, Dehart, Halsey, 2009). The Vaccines for Children Program (VCP) has been helpful to those families that are of lower socioeconomic status to receive the proper vaccinations for free. However, factors such as limited clinic hours, insufficient transportation, and lack of information make it problematic for all low-income children to be vaccinated (CDC, 2015). This program is a step in the right direction but needs to be further enhanced to ensure that all children of low income backgrounds can receive immunizations. VCP needs to create more workshops and websites to raise awareness to low-income families to stress the importance of vaccines and revise their objectives to compromise with each state’s regulations. Due to diverse rules, some immunizations are not regulated in the same standards in every state, which makes it tough to know which vaccinations are necessary. Additionally, compensating families with financial incentives (such as adding tax credits) could easily increase the rates of vaccinations along with the work of VCP. It is essential that the Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and the Vaccines for Children Program work together to raise awareness and add incentives for getting vaccinated. Working together to reach out to low socioeconomic families would result in more vaccinations that would lead to a healthier community. Improving the vaccination rate would make children less susceptible to deadly diseases and prevent those medically ill children from contracting these ailments. It is estimated that with immunizations, over 322 million illnesses, 21 million hospitalizations, and an estimated $295 billion in direct costs were prevented between the years 1994-2013 (Chen et al., 2016). Vaccinations are essential to everyone (especially children) seeking to not contract fatal illnesses. It is difficult for children’s bodies to fight diseases because of how weak their immune systems are at such a young age. With the discovery of immunizations, children and all humans have now been widely protected from diseases such as small pox and rubella that were once prevalent and took a deadly toll on society. By refocusing our goals with the help of the Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, and the Children for Vaccines Program, implementations can be improved with more awareness and regulations that are tailored toward certain states because of different vaccination laws. With tax incentives, low-income families would be more motivated to get their children immunized, which would help lower stress and financial burdens on the family in the long run. Overall, with more awareness and enticements with vaccines, low socioeconomic children would prevail in safer and healthier world where families would not have to worry about their children contracting a deadly vaccine-preventable disease.