These related terms are often confused yet they are different. A vaccine’s effectiveness is a “real world” view of its ability to reduce the occurrence of a specific disease in a population. “This measure can assess the net balance of benefits and adverse effects of a vaccination program, not just the vaccine itself, under more natural field conditions rather than in a controlled clinical trial. Vaccine effectiveness is proportional to vaccine potency (ie, vaccine efficacy) but is also affected by how well targeted groups in the population are immunized (which itself may reflect difficulties in maintaining proper storage conditions of a vaccine, such as the cold chain, access to health care, and vaccine cost), as well as by other nonvaccine-related factors that influence the real-world outcomes of hospitalizations, ambulatory visits, or costs.” (Vaccine Epidemiology: Efficacy, Effectiveness, and the Translational Research Roadmap, Weinberg, G. A., & Szilagyi, P. G. 2010, February 3, Para 7).
The efficacy of a vaccine refers to the vaccine’s ability to bring about the intended beneficial effects to a specified population under ideal conditions of usage on vaccinated individuals. Vaccine efficacy is usually expressed as proportionate reduction in infection attack rate (AR) among the vaccinated (ARV) study cohorts and unvaccinated (ARU). Then from the relative risk (RR) of disease among the …show more content…
The list of licensed and recommended vaccines has been growing, and not just for infants and children or high risk individuals. Many professional societies such as the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and other public healthcare agencies have developed schedules to indicate which vaccines should be given and when they should be administered for juveniles, adults, and other specific vulnerable populations. (Judelsohn, R. G., MD. (2007, November/December)) Defining who gets a vaccine and when it should be received contributes to the effectiveness of a vaccine by optimizing a vaccines efficacy. “If you look at the history of any vaccine-preventable disease, you will virtually always see that the number of cases of disease starts to drop when a vaccine is licensed.” (How Well Do Vaccines Work?, 2016, Para5)
Outbreaks of vaccine preventable disease are increasing because many antivaccinators and parents who are deciding to not vaccinate their children. Immunizations have been proven to be safe by scientists, healthcare providers, and public health