“The decline in vaccination coverage in the United States can and will have global consequences.”

F or decades, vaccination has been a key pillar of public health in the United States. This is based in particular on the expertise provided by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), established in 1964. Its mission is to provide independent recommendations based on the best available scientific evidence for the use of vaccines. The committee has thus contributed to the progressive integration of available vaccines into a harmonized vaccination schedule, updated annually.

Through regular national campaigns, the country has successfully eliminated or controlled once-fearful diseases—measles, whooping cough, polio, and diphtheria—that caused a large number of deaths and disabilities each year. While in 1919, there were nearly 13 measles deaths per 100,000 people in the United States, this rate had fallen to zero after widespread vaccination was introduced.

While scientific evidence for vaccine efficacy and safety has never been stronger, some of these diseases are making a comeback. Measles, declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000, is circulating again at a worrying rate, with more than 1,000 cases reported in 2025 , due to declining vaccination coverage.

A study published in April in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) predicts that a 10% drop in measles vaccination coverage could lead to more than 11 million additional cases in the United States over the next 25 years. Whooping cough, long under control, is experiencing a worrying resurgence. Other threats include the possible re-emergence of polio, whose near eradication was considered a major victory for modern medicine.

What we are seeing today in the United States mirrors, in an exacerbated way, what is happening in many other countries, including France. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the extent of the distrust many citizens have toward health authorities, experts, and vaccines more generally. The speed with which mRNA vaccines were developed, the flow of sometimes contradictory information from experts, and the political exploitation of certain public health measures have contributed to creating a climate of lasting suspicion.

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