Vaccination situation precarious

AORN Journal,  July, 2005  

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An estimated 15% of children and 30% of adults in the United States who have health insurance are not covered for vaccines, according to a May 12, 2005, news release from the journal Health Affairs. As many as five million privately insured children and 36 million privately insured adults are not covered for immunizations, which may contribute to low US immunization rates, according to the release.

In addition, the US pediatric vaccine supply is considered precarious due to increasingly frequent shortages in several pediatric vaccines. The federal stockpile of pediatric vaccines, which is intended to forestall shortages, has been depleted. One survey found that 66% of Americans believed that their community was experiencing a vaccine shortage, and 60% were concerned about it. Nearly 40% blamed vaccine manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies for the shortfall, and nearly 30% blamed federal government public hearth agencies. The survey also found that 45% of Americans believed that the federal government should ensure an adequate vaccine supply, white 26% thought manufacturers should do so.

New Health Affairs Issue on Vaccines Calls Pediatric Vaccine Supply Precarious (news release, Bethesda, Md: Health Affairs, May 12, 2005).

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