The Lifesciences Magazine

US Kindergarten Vaccination Exemptions Reach All-Time High According to new data released by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, the percentage of kindergarten students who received their state-mandated measles vaccinations remained below the federal target last school year, and the rate of vaccine exemptions for children reached the highest level ever recorded in the country. According to the research, coverage for four important vaccines decreased in most states for the 2022–2023 school year: the varicella vaccine for chickenpox, the poliovirus vaccine, the diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Reduced vaccination rates increase the possibility of epidemics, making the nation more susceptible to illnesses that might result in life-threatening conditions or even death. “Immunisation programmes, schools, and providers must ensure children are fully vaccinated before school entry, or bef...

  This fall, adults over 60 will be able to get RSV Vaccines, a virus that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates causes between 60,000-160,000 hospitalizations and 6,000-10,000 deaths among older Americans each year due to respiratory illness. This is a necessary advance in medicine, according to health experts. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ advice to use the vaccine was endorsed by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on June 29. This marks the conclusion of a decades-long effort to provide such protections against the virus, which made headlines last year when a “tripledemic” of RSV, flu, and COVID-19 infections overran hospitals nationwide. An editorial writer was told by Lynn Bahta, an immunization specialist at the Minnesota Department of Health, “It’s really exciting to have available.” The Pfizer and GSK vaccines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in May. The GSK vaccine has been demonstrated in clinical studies to be 83% eff...