Technically Speaking: Our Society Deserves Vaccination

Two new educational pieces from IAC explain the science supporting vaccines and the value of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Vaccines are remarkable scientific achievements that save lives and protect against the spread of disease. Yet every day, healthcare providers find themselves defending the safety of vaccines. To assist with that effort, the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) has released two new educational pieces; the first describes the science underpinning public confidence in today’s vaccines, while the second offers an overview of the U.S. Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Both documents are available for healthcare professionals, policymakers, advocates and the public.

1. Science supports our confidence in vaccines – An overview of the scientific evidence favoring routine vaccination

   This eight-page document outlines the wealth of scientific evidence supporting the rationale for routine vaccination and explains the prudence of routine vaccination policies. It covers a wide variety of topics, including:

   • Vaccines and autism
   • The purpose of various vaccine components
   • The remote link to fetal-origin cell lines used in certain viral vaccines
   • U.S. court decisions on vaccine requirements
   • Why we vaccinate children at a young age
   • How vaccines are studied before licensure
   • The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS)
2. The Vaccine Compensation Program of 1986 – An effective balance of public health and personal remedy

   This two-page document describes the historical basis and public-policy rationale for the establishment of the U.S. Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), including the program's benefits for both society and individual vaccine recipients. This piece, which helps policy-makers understand the background and facts behind this no-fault liability program, was based in part on legal analysis provided by Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, JD, PhD, professor, University of California – Hastings College of the Law, and the book Vaccine Court: The Law and Politics of Injury by Anna Kirkland.

Additional resources

Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

• Vaccine- and vaccine safety-related Q&A sheets
• Vaccine safety references
• Videos: Talking about vaccines with Dr. Stanley Plotkin
• Video: Stanley Plotkin: Pioneering the use of fetal cells to make rubella vaccine

Immunization Action Coalition

• Handouts: Vaccine confidence
• Handouts: Strategies and policies for healthcare settings
• Talking about vaccines webpage
• Vaccine safety webpage
• Importance of vaccines webpage