Giving Every Child A Shot at Life

Every 20 seconds a child under five years old dies of a vaccine -preventable disease. That’s three kids a minute; over 4,000 every single day; over one and a half million children every year. That’s the entire town of Tolland gone in four days. These statistics are tragic, not only for the sheer number of children dying, but because these deaths are preventable with vaccines. This is an issue that has been exacerbated by the pandemic in recent years as millions of children missed out on basic, lifesaving vaccines due to interrupted health services.

Here in the United States, but especially in Connecticut, we have extensive privileges, and our access to quality medical care is one of the greatest. When I caught pneumonia as a child, my parents never feared I would die. But this is not the case for families in low-resource countries; hundreds of thousands of people die of pneumonia every year—specifically, one child every 39 seconds. We have a moral obligation to help these people. And it is not only possible to save the lives of children around the world, but it is easy.

Vaccines save over four million lives every single year, and they have the potential to save even more if everyone had access to them. The United States helps expand global vaccine access every year, but there is significant work to be done. Despite being critical to saving millions of lives, funding for immunization accounts for far less than 1% of the total federal budget . This is money well spent, as it helps to save the lives of millions of people worldwide while also creating real economic returns – each dollar spent on childhood immunizations generates $44 in future economic benefits.

In 2022, the United States government invested $742 million into global vaccine programs. This was not possible without help from regular Americans – Americans like us. This funding was a direct result of over 8,000 congressional engagements made by people just like you and me. We can contribute to this life-saving work here in Connecticut. It takes no more than a few minutes to call the offices of our representatives and senators and ask them to prioritize funding for global vaccine programs. If this feels daunting or time-consuming, text VACCINES to 30644 to learn from Shot@Life, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation, about other ways that you can make a difference. Some of the suggestions, such as signing the Shot@Life petition, which automatically contacts your members of Congress for you, will take less than a minute, and directly contribute to this life saving work. We all have a responsibility to help keep children across the globe safe, and ensure that everyone, everywhere has a shot at a healthy life.