Are vaccines an effective tool to prevent disease?

Vaccines are a proven disease prevention tool — I'll gather the latest evidence on their effectiveness.

Yes, vaccines are an effective tool to prevent disease. This is the consensus of major global health authorities based on extensive scientific evidence:

> Vaccination remains one of the most effective tools for preventing infectious disease outbreaks and increasing life expectancy, with the WHO describing vaccines as "one of the most life-saving public health interventions in history".

Evidence from Global Health Authorities

•Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

> "Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing serious disease and death."
> "Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing disease and death. Vaccines help protect both individuals and communities by preventing and reducing the spread of infectious diseases."
> Vaccines are our most effective and cost-saving tools for disease prevention, preventing untold suffering and saving tens of thousands of lives and billions of dollars in healthcare costs each year

•World Health Organization (WHO):

> Immunization is a global health success story, saving millions of lives every year. Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body's natural defenses to build protection.
> We now have vaccines to prevent more than 30 life-threatening diseases and infections, helping people of all ages live longer, healthier lives. Immunization currently prevents 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), influenza and measles.
> Immunization currently prevents 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), influenza and measles.

Measured Effectiveness

While no vaccine is 100% effective, measured effectiveness is high for many vaccines:

•Measles: The MMR vaccine is about 97% effective at preventing measles after two doses, ~93% after one. The CDC also reports two doses are 97% effective at preventing measles, likely for life — and even one dose is 93% effective.

•Varicella (chickenpox): According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overall varicella vaccine effectiveness is 82% after 1 dose and 92 to 98% after 2 doses.

•COVID-19: One EuroSAVE study found that an up-to-date COVID-19 vaccine received within the past six months was 72 per cent effective at preventing hospitalization and 67 per cent effective at preventing the most serious outcomes, including ICU admission and death.

•HPV: HPV vaccines are highly effective at preventing HPV infections, and HPV related diseases, including associated cancers and genital warts, in females and males.

Historical Impact

•Over the past 50 years, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives, as ordinary people chose to protect themselves, their children and their communities from diseases like measles, diphtheria, pertussis, polio, and rotavirus.

•In the last 50 years alone, they've saved an estimated 154 million lives.

•Over time, vaccines have been responsible for the eradication of smallpox, the near elimination of polio, and significant reductions in the incidence of diseases like measles, diphtheria, and whooping cough.

•Smallpox, once a feared scourge that claimed millions of lives, was declared eradicated in 1980 following a successful global vaccination campaign led by the World Health Organization (WHO).

•The global incidence of polio has decreased by over 99% since 1988, thanks to sustained immunization efforts.

Vaccines are also critical to the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks and underpin global health security.

They work with your immune system to build protection, and also help protect communities by reducing spread, including through herd immunity when vaccination coverage is high.

Citations (3)

1cdc.govGovernment
Sample Key Messages
Backs: “"Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing disease and death. Vaccines help protect both individuals and communities by preventing and reducing the spread of infectious diseases."”
2who.intGovernment
Vaccines and immunization
Backs: “World Health Organization (WHO): Immunization is a global health success story, saving millions of lives every year. Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body's natural defenses to build protection.”
3un.orgGovernment
For every generation, vaccines work and they have saved over 150 million lives: WHO
Backs: “HPV: HPV vaccines are highly effective at preventing HPV infections, and HPV related diseases, including associated cancers and genital warts, in females and males. Historical Impact. Over the past 50 years, vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives, as ordinary people chose to protect themselves, their children…”