Importance of Vaccines: Resources & Information

For more than 50 years, vaccinations have saved more than a billion lives and prevented countless illnesses and disabilities in the United States. Vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, COVID-19, influenza, and whooping cough, are still a threat. They continue to infect U.S. children, resulting in hospitalizations and deaths.

Immunize.org

Materials for Providers

Need Help Responding to Vaccine-Hesitant Parents?

A list of science-based materials available from respected organizations.

Materials for Vaccine Recipients

Vaccines Work!

CDC statistics demonstrate dramatic declines in vaccine-preventable diseases when compared with the pre-vaccine era

Top 10 Reasons To Protect Your Child by Vaccinating

This handout gives parents top ten reasons to protect children by vaccinating

Sample Vaccine Policy Statement

This sample vaccine policy statement is for pediatric providers to adapt and share their commitment to immunization with patients and parents

Reliable Sources of Immunization Information: Where Parents Can Go to Find Answers!

Handout listing Immunize.org’s top choices for reliable information.

More From Immunize.org

Printable resources and links to partner organizations to help you address hesitancy related to vaccination-related anxiety.

Printable resources designed to help healthcare professionals in all aspects of immunization practice.

Immunize.org experts answer challenging questions about vaccines.

Information sheets produced by CDC that explain both the benefits and risks of a vaccine to vaccine recipients.

Real-life accounts of suffering and loss.

From our affiliated site VaccineInformation.org, information about the importance of vaccines and answers to many common questions.

CDC ∙ FDA ∙ WHO

CDC

Overview of the importance of vaccination in preventing serious diseases from making a comeback.

Basic information about the immune system and descriptions of the types of vaccines.

How vaccines work, vaccine side effects, vaccine ingredients, and vaccine safety.

On-time vaccination: the ultimate babyproofing plan.

Information for parents about vaccine schedules, diseases vaccines prevent, preparing for vaccine visits, and common questions about vaccines.

Trusted Organizations

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

AAP’s immunization information for families.

The overwhelming majority of parents vaccinate their children, here are some of the reasons as told to AAP.

Center for Vaccine Awareness and Research (CVAR), Texas Children’s Hospital

This book profiles families devastated by vaccine-preventable disease. All of the families featured in the book thought it would never happen to them. All would, in a heartbeat, grab the chance to rewrite history by immunizing themselves or their loved ones against disease.

History of Vaccines (The College of Physicians of Philadelphia)

Overview about the importance of vaccination in preventing serious diseases from making a comeback.

Animated visualization of how vaccinated people help prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Vaxopedia

Explains how vaccines save lives, protect others, make travel safer, and save health care dollars

Describes the seriousness of vaccine-preventable diseases and why vaccination should not be optional

Voices for Vaccines

The Vaccine Quest is a free online course from Voices for Vaccines and designed for many different groups. Five modules help participants understand how vaccines work and how to spot good science about vaccines.

Additional Resources

The aim of this supplement is to “underscore the unparalleled human benefits that have accrued from vaccine discovery and use before the pandemic,” and includes 16 articles on vaccines, the U.S. vaccine program, and vaccine challenges and opportunities. (The Journal of Infectious Diseases, October 1, 2021)

Videos

Shot by Shot Video Library

A collection of more than 100 videos from people sharing their stories about vaccine-preventable diseases.

Video FAQs

In this series of brief video clips from Vaccinate Your Family, Dr. Paul Offit, Dr. Mark Sawyer, Ms. Alison Singer, and Dr. Mary Beth Koslap-Petraco, experts in the field of immunizations and infectious disease, reply to common questions about vaccines and when they are needed.

This page was updated on .