News & Events

HONOLULU – Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, additional immunizations will be required for students entering preschool, kindergarten through grade 12, and colleges/universities in Hawai‘i. The new state requirements for school entry will begin on July 1, 2020. Students who are up-to-date with their vaccinations in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention […]

Infants were less likely to be late on vaccinations when their parents received 6 weeks of paid family leave, especially those born to families living below the poverty line, according to a report published in IZA Institute of Labor Economics Discussion Papers. California became the first state to enact a paid family leave policy in 2004. […]

More than 8 in 10 U.S. adults say kids should be required to get vaccinated in order to attend school, but far fewer trust the safety of vaccines, a new poll finds. The nationwide poll from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health sampled 1,550 adults (704 parents and 846 others) and found 84% […]

Following several years of steady progress toward elimination of measles in the WHO European Region, the number of countries having achieved or sustained elimination of the disease has declined. This was the conclusion of the European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC) based on an assessment of annual status updates for 2018 […]

September 3, 2019 After a major emergency response and extensive collaboration with community partners, active transmission of measles associated with the 2018-2019 outbreak stops and Emergency Order is rescinded NEW YORK—Mayor de Blasio and Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot today announced the end to the measles public health emergency declared on April 9 for parts of Brooklyn. Measles outbreaks are typically […]

The HPV vaccine is far more effective than expected, with benefits extending beyond those who receive the vaccine, a study published Wednesday finds. The new study, published in The Lancet, suggests that the more people who receive the vaccine, the better. That’s because vaccination not only reduces rates of HPV infection and the presence of […]

(CNN)A massive measles outbreak that spread across parts of Brooklyn since October has ended, New York City health officials announced Tuesday. This marks the end of the largest measles outbreak New York City has seen in nearly three decades. Measles outbreaks are typically declared over when two incubation periods for measles — which is about […]

More than 300 million people come to Pinterest every month to get inspired and find ideas, from easy weeknight meals to crafts to do with kids. We believe a healthy life is an inspired life, and today we have an update on our efforts to combat health misinformation.  We’re introducing a new experience for vaccine-related […]

The American Academy of Pediatrics has a recommendation for the parents whose children are aged 6-years-old or younger: Get them the flu vaccine. The group says that there is not a preference in how the vaccine is administered, whether it be nasal spray or the shot, as there is no difference. AAP says that, ideally, […]

While there’s been a slight uptick in the number of American boys who get the HPV vaccine to help prevent certain cancers, a new study finds there’s been almost no increase for girls. And overall, too few kids are getting the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Gardasil, Cervarix), which can help provide them with a lifetime […]

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) continues to recommend routine yearly influenza vaccination for everyone aged 6 months or older who has no contraindications, according to updated recommendations for the 2019–2020 influenza season. Read the full article here. 

Two state representatives are introducing legislation that they say would promote child immunizations in Pennsylvania. Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Pittsburgh, said his bill would require families to have annual meetings with a doctor if they want a non-medical exemption for vaccinations. Under current law, a parent needs to sign a form once for religious or philosophical […]

Forty percent of U.S. parents say they would likely find a new doctor if their child’s primary care provider sees families who refuse childhood vaccines, a nationwide poll finds. And three in 10 say their child’s primary care provider should not treat youngsters whose parents refuse all vaccines. Those are key findings of the latest […]

As measles outbreaks grow, the AAP is taking aim at vaccine misinformation online. AAP President Kyle E. Yasuda, M.D., FAAP, sent letters today to the CEOs of Google (which owns YouTube), Facebook (which owns WhatsApp and Instagram) and Pinterest requesting that they partner with the Academy to make sure parents using their platforms are seeing […]

On March 5, witnesses representing a broad range of expertise testified at a Senate hearing on the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases. The hearing, Vaccines Save Lives: What Is Driving Preventable Disease Outbreaks?, was called to discuss the current multi-state outbreak of measles. Witnesses addressed the link between recent outbreaks of diseases such as measles, and some […]

(CNN) In February this year, a holiday in paradise turned into a nightmare for one French family. Soon after their arrival in Costa Rica, their unvaccinated five-year-old son developed measles, the country’s first case since 2014. The parents, also unvaccinated, tested positive for the virus too. They were believed to have brought it from France. […]

By Lena H. Sun July 21 NEW YORK — It’s late on a Tuesday night during the worst measles outbreak in decades, and doctors, nurses and other health-care providers are gathered at a medical center to learn better ways of talking to parents who are reluctant to vaccinate their children. Blima Marcus, an oncology nurse practitioner, leads the two-hour […]

By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLAS In 2016, California implemented one of the strictest immunization laws in the country, requiring that all children be up to date on their vaccinations to attend school unless a doctor says otherwise. The law, however, does not apply to children who are home-schooled, a loophole that parents seem to be increasingly exploiting. Over […]

LONDON (Reuters) – More than one in 10 children – or 20 million worldwide – missed out last year on vaccines against life-threatening diseases such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus, the World Health Organization and the UNICEF children’s fund said on Monday. In a report on global immunization coverage, the U.N. agencies found that vaccination […]

(CNN) There are now five states in the United States that do not offer personal, philosophical or religious exemptions from school vaccination requirements: California, Mississippi, West Virginia, Maine and New York. Even with measles outbreaks across the US, at least 20 states have proposed anti-vaccination bills The idea behind these controversial state laws — which have received opposition from […]

By Molly Harbarger | The Oregonian/OregonLive Oregon is the first state in the country to allow dentists to administer vaccines to patients. In a year marked with heated debate about the state’s involvement in boosting vaccination rates, the bill was quietly passed and signed into law with little fanfare. But it sets a new precedent for […]

New Law Will Protect Public Health in the Midst of Ongoing Measles Outbreak Follows Extensive Efforts by State Health Department to Contain Measles Outbreak in Pockets of the State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed legislation (S.2994A/A.2371), sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman and Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, removing non-medical exemptions from school vaccination requirements for children. The United […]

Let’s Treat Measles Seriously To stop outbreaks, we must halt the spread of anti-vaccination misinformation Arthur Caplan May 9 We are now well into the measles outbreak of 2019. From January 1 to May 3, there were 764 cases of measles confirmed in 23 states. This is the greatest number reported in the United States […]

By WMTW The bill, LD 798, eliminates religious and philosophical exemptions for receiving immunizations required by schools and day cares. In a press release, Rep. Ryan Tipping, a Democrat from Orono who sponsored the bill, said, “As we hear more reports of measles and other preventable diseases in Maine and across the country, it has become […]

By Associated Press Some fans attending Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 can get measles vaccines at the track’s infield medical center. IndyCar medical director Geoffrey Billows said Thursday a “very limited supply” of vaccines will be available at the medical building near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum. He says most insurance companies will cover the cost. Billows encourages concerned fans […]