Are vaccines an effective tool to prevent disease?

Vaccines are a powerful way to prevent disease — I'll pull the latest evidence on how well they work.

Yes, vaccines are one of the most effective tools available to prevent disease.

Evidence from major health organizations:

> Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases

> Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with your body’s natural defenses to build protection. When you get a vaccine, your immune system responds

> We now have vaccines to prevent more than 30 life-threatening diseases and infections, helping people of all ages live longer, healthier lives

Effectiveness at population level

•Immunization currently prevents 3.5 million to 5 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), influenza and measles

•Over the past 50 years, essential vaccines against just 14 diseases have saved at least 154 million lives

•Similarly reported as: 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

•Vaccines are also critical to the prevention and control of infectious disease outbreaks

Historically:

> Vaccines are considered one of the greatest medical achievements. They have eradicated smallpox and reduced global child mortality and long-term disabilities from vaccine-preventable diseases

They are described as:

> Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing serious disease and death

How well they work

Effectiveness varies by vaccine and disease, but even when not providing absolute prevention of infection, they substantially reduce severe outcomes:

> Vaccines cannot always prevent infection, but they can substantially reduce the risk of serious disease

Citations (3)

1who.intGovernment
Vaccines and immunization: Vaccine safety
Backs: “Yes, vaccines are one of the most effective tools available to prevent disease. Evidence from major health organizations:”
2who.intGovernment
Vaccines and immunization
Backs: “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: “Over the past 50 years, essential vaccines against just 14 diseases have saved at least 154 million lives. Similarly reported as: 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,…”