Lost Trust Leads To Lives Lost: Rebuilding Vaccine Confidence For A Healthier Nation – Forbes

Drug vial with label - Vaccines Save Lives

One of my earliest childhood memories was watching my father, a doctor, make house calls to his patients around Nashville. Witnessing his healing, empathy, and dedication to the science of medicine first inspired me to follow in his footsteps not just as a physician, but in his passion to make the world a healthier, better place for all. It inevitably guided me to the halls of the U.S. Capitol as a senator representing my home state of Tennessee.

In those halls, I saw the greatness of this country at its best moments times of bipartisanship, when the health, happiness, well-being, and freedom of the American people were prioritized above all else.

That was 17 years ago. Since then, we have watched that bipartisanship crumble and those good moments become fewer and farther between, reaching a precipice during the COVID-19 pandemic a precipice we are dangerously close to careening over.

The pandemic not only led to a devastating loss of life, but it also gave rise to a scourge of misinformation causing a level of distrust in medicine and science unseen in modern times. Never in my lifetime has the word vaccine been so controversial. As a physician, and as a representative of the American people, its disappointing, but it is by no means insurmountable.

Recent data on vaccine hesitancy must be our wake-up call our rallying cry to right the ship, most importantly for our young people. The CDC has reported that immunization rates for critical vaccines like MMR, DTaP, and polio continue to fall, dropping below levels from the 2011-2012 school year, amounting to nearly 250,000 children who may not be protected against measles and other infectious diseases. We are already witnessing the effects.

With the emergence of a measles vaccine in the early 1960s, we saw a 99% reduction in measles cases in the U.S., achieving the elimination goal in 2000. However, due to vaccine hesitancy since then, we have witnessed an alarming rise in outbreaks across the country. Between November 2022 and February 2023, a measles outbreak affected several schools and daycares in central Ohio, infecting 85 children 80 of whom were unvaccinated. Already this year, there have been 11 outbreaks in the U.S., with cases spanning 22 states. Of this years cases, 65% of the children under age 5 were hospitalized.

Globally, outbreaks of other vaccine-preventable diseases like polio and cholera are also on the rise, and will almost certainly make their way to the U.S. These diseases know no borders, and if vaccination rates continue to decline here, the relatively small number of cases we have now could very quickly become tens or hundreds of thousands of infected people.

Vaccines have, and continue to be, our greatest defense in preventing infectious diseases and safeguarding public health. Historical data underscores their success. The introduction of the polio vaccine in 1955 drastically reduced the number of polio cases, contributing to the Americas being declared polio-free in 1994. Recent studies have also shown the high efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, with mRNA vaccines like those from Moderna and Pfizer demonstrating effectiveness rates of over 90% in preventing severe illness and hospitalization. Furthermore, the new RSV immunization, nirsevimab, has shown 90% effectiveness in preventing RSV-related hospitalizations in infants.

Children and parents line up outside the Children's Hospital to receive polio vaccines, Cincinnati, ... [+] Ohio, April 24, 1960. The day marked to first day that the vaccine was made available to US children and was popularly referred to as 'Sabin Sunday,' after Dr. Albert Sabin whose research at the hospital lead to the vaccine. (Photo by Cincinnati Museum Center/Getty Images)

In addition to their effectiveness, vaccines have a robust safety profile with minimal risk of side effects, having been subject to rigorous studies and double-blind tests. Contrary to what rampant misinformation would have you believe, the vast majority of vaccine side effects are mild and temporary, such as a low-grade fever. These successes and safety assurances highlight the critical role of vaccines in combating both long-standing and emerging infectious diseases, underscoring the importance of continued vaccination efforts.

Vaccines are critical for more than individual health, they also ensure the safety of those around us. A viruss effects are exponential: One unvaccinated individual can cause severe illness among entire communities and lead to preventable loss of life, especially among the most vulnerable including children, grandparents, front-line workers, and the immune-compromised like transplant recipients, whose lives hang in the balance.

It falls to all of us to correct the course, combat misinformation, get vaccinated, and urge our loved ones to do the same. And to our lawmakers the men and women fortunate enough to hold offices that are a public trust it is past time to live up to the roles bestowed by the American people. It is the responsibility of our leaders to take the sometimes uncomfortable, even unpopular, position when the health and safety of our people are at stake. Trust the science, trust the medicine, work together, and boldly combat the rising vaccine hesitancy and skepticism that needlessly put our nation at risk.

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Lost Trust Leads To Lives Lost: Rebuilding Vaccine Confidence For A Healthier Nation - Forbes