Our lives depend on the CDC because the agency is on the front line, protecting us from infectious diseases. Vaccinations are one of the most powerful tools in that fight, and the CDC ensures they are safe, effective and widely available. Without vaccines, diseases we’ve nearly defeated, like polio or measles, could return in full force.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plays a crucial role in public health, and our lives—especially when it comes to preventing dangerous diseases—depend on the work they do. Vaccinations are at the center of that mission. Here’s why:

1. The CDC tracks and controls outbreaks

The CDC monitors diseases across the United States and around the world.

When outbreaks occur—such as measles, polio or influenza—the CDC investigates quickly to contain them.

Without that oversight, diseases could spread silently before anyone realized, putting millions at risk.

2. The CDC ensures that vaccines are safe

Vaccines go through years of research and trials before approval, but the CDC continues monitoring them after they are in use.

The agency tracks side effects through systems such as VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System).

This helps identify rare problems quickly and ensures vaccines remain safe for the population.

3. The CDC provides science-based guidelines

The CDC recommends vaccination schedules for children, adults, seniors and people with health conditions.

These guidelines prevent confusion and make sure people get the right protection at the right age.

For example, polio and smallpox vaccines helped nearly eliminate those diseases because of consistent CDC guidance.

4. The CDC educates the public

Many people don’t realize how deadly diseases such as diphtheria, measles or polio once were.

The CDC keeps history and data alive, reminding us what happens when vaccination rates drop.

The agency’s campaigns increase public awareness and fight misinformation.

5. The CDC helps prevent pandemics

The CDC’s global disease surveillance warns us about emerging threats.

Vaccination programs for seasonal flu or new viruses reduce hospitalizations and deaths.

Without the CDC coordinating national responses, pandemics like COVID-19 could have been even worse.

6. The CDC protects the most vulnerable

Babies, seniors and people with weakened immune systems rely on herd immunity—the idea that if most people are vaccinated, diseases can’t spread easily.

The CDC ensures vaccination rates stay high enough to shield those whose immune systems cannot shield them.

The vital role of vaccination and herd immunity: Why mandatory immunization protects us all

Human beings move through their daily lives with a certain sense of security. Parents send their children to school, people crowd into restaurants and theaters, athletes compete in stadiums filled with spectators, and travelers board planes that crisscross the globe. Few pause to wonder whether the person next to them carries diphtheria, measles, polio or smallpox. Few worry about iron lungs or mass graves filled with children lost to infectious disease. 

This freedom from constant fear is not accidental; it is one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine: the widespread use of vaccines.

Vaccination programs, coordinated and enforced by public health agencies, have transformed human life in just over a century. Diseases that once killed millions yearly are now controlled, or even eradicated. The security that people take for granted today exists precisely because most citizens are immunized. But what would happen if vaccination were treated as a matter of personal preference rather than a public responsibility? What if parents were free to opt their children out of immunization requirements before school entry? The consequences would ripple through society: herd immunity would collapse, vulnerable populations would lose protection, and previously viruses would roar back, perhaps even in mutated, more dangerous forms. Our health depends on vaccination, how herd immunity functions, what history has taught us about disease resurgence, and why mandatory immunization is essential for safeguarding present and future generations.

School vaccination requirements

Recognizing this responsibility, public health authorities established vaccination requirements for children entering school. These laws, which exist in every U.S. state and many countries worldwide, ensure that children are immunized against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, and other diseases before they join crowded classrooms.

The logic is clear: schools are breeding grounds for contagion. Children interact closely, share supplies and spend long hours indoors. Without vaccination requirements, these institutions could become epicenters of outbreaks. History proves the wisdom of these laws. Where compliance is high, outbreaks vanish. Where exemptions proliferate, disease reemerges.

Consider measles. Declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, measles returned in 2025, fueled by communities with low vaccination rates. Hundreds of children became sick, some requiring hospitalization and some died. These outbreaks were not acts of nature. These resulted from policies permitting parents to opt out of immunizing their children.

Part Two will be printed in the September 18 issue of the River Reporter. You can read the entire piece online now at www.riverreporter.com/stories/turmoil-at-the-centers-for-disease-control-cdc,215466.

Michael Kossove is professor emeritus and an adjunct professor of microbiology at Touro University’s School of Health Sciences.