Physicians administer vaccines based on the evidence-based vaccination schedules developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which consists of volunteer members who are medical
and/or public health experts.
Some insurers may offer financial incentives to physicians for reducing health care costs; however, the incentives are based on physicians performing a comprehensive list of preventive services aimed at preventing
illnesses and keeping patients healthy and out of the hospital and improving overall patient outcomes.
In addition, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires applicable manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologicals, or medical
supplies to annually report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services certain payments or other transfers of value made to physicians and teaching hospitals. This data is available to the public.
Any substance can be
harmful in significantly high doses, even water. Vaccines go through a rigorous approval process with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just as over-the-counter and prescription drugs do.
The FDA requires that vaccines undergo an extensive development program in the laboratory, as well as in animal studies and human clinical trials, to determine their safety and effectiveness. Highly trained FDA scientists and clinicians carefully evaluate all of the information and make a determination whether to license (approve) a vaccine before it can be used in the U.S. Prior to licensure, as part of the FDA’s evaluation, it takes all of the ingredients of a vaccine into account, including the active ingredients as well as other substances. After the FDA approves a vaccine, it continuously monitors its safety.
There have been concerns raised about some vaccine ingredients such as aluminum. However, using this as an example, aluminum is also found in drinking water, fruits and vegetables, flour, cereals, nuts, dairy products, honey, antacids, buffered aspirin, antiperspirants, and more.
Currently, there are 15 vaccines recommended for children birth through age 18. Of those, eight were approved between 1987 and 2006. From 1995 to 2010 four new vaccines were added with four updates to previously recommended vaccines. Annual updates to both the childhood and adult immunization schedules offer guidance to health care providers.
Herd immunity, also known as community immunity, is very real. It protects everyone, but is especially important because some people can’t get vaccinated against certain diseases — such as infants and those with weakened or failing immune systems. If a large portion of the
population is immune to those diseases, ideally through vaccination, it is
unlikely those diseases can spread.
A vaccine that causes someone to get a complete case of the disease is extremely unlikely. Most vaccines are inactivated, meaning they contain no live virus. Therefore, it is impossible to contract the disease. A few vaccines (chickenpox for example) do contain live vaccine, which could lead to a very mild case of the disease. This isn’t harmful and shows the vaccine is working.
Vaccine preventable diseases have been virtually eliminated. Some vaccine-preventable diseases, like pertussis (whooping cough) and chickenpox, are still present in the US. The main reason that there are so few cases of the other vaccine-preventable diseases in the US is due to vaccines. People becoming vaccinated helped to stop the spread of disease. However, vaccine preventable diseases are still quite prevalent in other countries. Travelers can unknowingly bring these diseases into the US, and if the community is unprotected, the diseases could quickly spread causing outbreaks or epidemics. The relatively few cases that the US may currently have could very quickly become tens or hundreds of thousands of cases without the protection given by vaccines. With adequate vaccination rates, most of these types of outbreaks can be prevented. But if vaccination rates drop, “imported” cases of preventable diseases can begin to spread again.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this Q&A is based on source material that was pulled from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and the PA Department of Health. It was verified for accuracy as of July 2025. Please note that medical knowledge and guidelines are constantly evolving, and it’s always best to consult directly with a healthcare professional for the most up-to-date advice.
