CDC Digital Press Kit: Vaccine for Children Program

CDC Digital Press Kit: Vaccine for Children Program

CDC Digital Press Kit: Vaccine for Children Program

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent this bulletin at 09/12/2013 05:49 PM EDT

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Digital Press Kit

20 Years of Success

CDC Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Vaccines for Children Program

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of passage of the legislation that created the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC), one of our nation’s most successful public-private partnerships for improving public health. This national program helps provide vaccines to children whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford them, and helps many more children have a better chance of getting their vaccines according to the recommended immunization schedule, protecting babies, children and adolescents from 16 serious diseases including measles, mumps, whooping cough, chickenpox, flu and diphtheria.
In 1989 - 1991, a measles epidemic in the United States resulted in tens of thousands of cases of measles and hundreds of deaths. Upon investigation, CDC found that more than half of the children who had measles had not been immunized, even though many of them had seen a health care provider.
In partial response to that epidemic, Congress included the creation of the Vaccines for Children Program in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1993, which passed on August 10, 1993. VFC became operational October 1, 1994.
Funding for the VFC program is approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and allocated through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC buys vaccines at a discount and distributes them to enrolled VFC providers at no charge.

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