Vaccines News & Features

October 3, 2024 — More children started kindergarten last year without having first received recommended vaccines for highly contagious and dangerous diseases, moving the nation even further away from vaccination rates experts say are needed for herd immunity.

February 23, 2024 — The recent growth in measles cases in the United States and the world is linked to declining vaccination rates for children, medical experts say.

November 22, 2023 — Children whose parents received a reminder notification that their child was due for vaccination against human papillomavirus were 56% more likely to get the potentially life-saving medicine, a new study shows.

November 10, 2023 — The CDC said 3% of children starting kindergarten in the 2022-2023 school year received an exemption from one of the four key vaccines—the highest exemption rate ever reported in the United States.

October 26, 2023 — A new meningococcal vaccine that better protects against the rare but potentially deadly disease will soon be available.

September 26, 2023 — Doctors and the CDC recommend everyone over 6 months get the new COVID-19 vaccine as fears of complications ease.

August 4, 2023 — The CDC is recommending that all babies younger than 8 months get a shot this fall or winter to protect against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

July 6, 2023 — The CDC is cutting money for state childhood vaccination programs, according to an agency email. The cut comes from a federal immunization grant, given in the last year, that supports childhood vaccines.

March 6, 2023 — A discredited 1998 study that falsely proposed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism is still having a negative effect on child vaccination rates in the United States and the United Kingdom more than two decades later, medical experts say.

January 12, 2023 — For the second straight year, the percentage of schoolchildren immunized against measles fell below a critical rate necessary to prevent the virus from spreading in the community, federal health officials say.

Misinformation could lead to widening vaccine disparities in babies and toddlers. Here’s what parents need to know to protect their kids.

Too many U.S. children and teens are not getting all the vaccinations they need, a pediatric infectious disease specialist says. See the 2019 updates on vaccinations for children and teens.

Tips to soothe your little one and ease your stress during vaccinations.

Experts from the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics talk about alternative vaccine schedules for infants.

A look at why whooping cough rates are rising despite a new vaccine.

Knowing which shots kids need and when can be confusing. Our expert clears it up.

For parents, childhood vaccines are a source of reassurance -- protecting your child against disease naturally helps you sleep better at night -- but also anxiety about side effects and reactions.

Actress and mother Amanda Peet has learned from personal experience that immunizations are crucial.

WebMD discusses the arguments for and against HPV vaccination and explains the risks and benefits associated with it.

WebMD gives tips for helping a child who is afraid of getting a shot. Learn how parents can make the vaccine process go smoothly.

WebMD investigates the whooping cough outbreak in California and other states.

Whooping cough is highly contagious. If one person has pertussis, up to 90% of people in the same house will get it. Here’s what careful moms do.

Does the private right of parents to not vaccinate their kids trump the greater public good?

Here is what you need to know about Gardasil, the new vaccine designed to help prevent cervical cancer and HPV infection.

Vaccines have proved so successful in eliminating their target diseases that some parents of school-aged children have gotten a bit lax about completing the complicated battery of injections.