Why Immunization Registries?

The accomplishments of immunizations in this country and in the world represent an incredible health success. However,  we know that short of global eradication, the job of immunizing children is never done. The outbreaks of measles and the resulting deaths in the late 1980s are a constant reminder of that sobering fact.
Sustaining high immunization rates is a difficult and complex task. National data show that a significant percentage of 2-year-olds are missing immunizations, primarily because parents lack complete information about their children's immunization status and providers overestimate the proportion of their patients who are fully  immunized. The immunization schedule is increasingly complex. And decreasing awareness of  the diseased that vaccines prevent has caused us to lower our guard.

School-entry immunization requirements helped institutionalize the delivery of immunizations for 5- to 6-year-old children, improving their immunization rates and raising their overall level of health. All Kids Count believes that we must now forge a similar long-term  solution if we are to improve and sustain high levels of immunization for infants and toddlers.

Immunization registries --- confidential computerized records of the immunizations that a child receives --- can provide parents, health care providers and communities with the information and data to ensure that all of our children are adequately protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.

These important tools also can increase vaccine safety by providing missing or additional information to health care providers and by facilitating the monitoring of vaccine adverse events.

Immunization Registry Fact Sheets

Policy Brief

Sustaining Immunization Registries:
Improving Health & Healthcare

Immunization Registries in the United States*
(*Requires Microsoft Power Point)

National Vaccine Advisory Commission (NVAC) Recommendations

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