Declining Vaccine Rates May Cause Thousands of Deaths, Put US ‘At Risk’: FDA Chief – The Messenger

Americas health leaders worry that declining vaccination rates can lead to the return of deadly diseases and thousands of avoidable deaths.

Robert Califf, M.D., commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Peter Marks, M.D., who oversees vaccine regulation at the agency, wrote in JAMA last week that they were concerned about falling vaccination rates.

The situation has now deteriorated to the point that population immunity against some vaccine-preventable infectious diseases is at risk, they wrote. Thousands of excess deaths are likely to occur this season due to illnesses amenable to prevention or reduction in severity of illness with vaccines.

They point to measles as the prime example of a once-handled virus making a sudden return. In the U.S., cases of the highly contagious virus have sporadically emerged around the country in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Just last week, Philadelphia officials warned that at least four people were infected in a measles cluster linked to the citys iconic Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Regrettably, pediatric vaccine hesitancy now has been responsible for several measles outbreaks in the U.S., Dr. Califf and Dr. Marks continue.

Its not just the U.S., however. The World Health Organization reported a 40% jump in measles deaths globally in 2022, and a 30% increase in European cases.

The pandemic led to a wave of vaccine hesitancy, with many casting doubts on the new class of shots meant to fight the pandemic an in-turn to vaccines as a whole. Many U.S. states also loosened vaccine exemptions for children, allowing more children to attend school without receiving shots to prevent measles and other infections.

Some states, such as Mississippi, have recorded drastic falls in vaccine uptake since the loosening of these mandates.

The pair of FDA officials point to parents with at least a college degree who preferred social media narratives over evidence-based vaccine information delivered by clinicians as being at fault for falling vaccination rates.

To fix the growing problem, the FDA leaders want investment into plain language campaigns that inform the public of why vaccines are so important. They specifically point to the devastating diseases polio and smallpox both of which are no longer major health threats because of vaccination as success stories that should be highlighted.

Such information is now needed because vaccines have been so successful in achieving their intended effects that many people no longer see the disturbing morbidity and mortality from infections amenable to vaccines, Dr. Marks and Dr. Califf added.

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Declining Vaccine Rates May Cause Thousands of Deaths, Put US 'At Risk': FDA Chief - The Messenger