A startling new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was released detailing the statistics of vaccinations among children in the United States. The report shows that the number of children who have not received any vaccinations have quadrupled since 2001.

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This was done by surveying the parents or guardians of children aged 19–35 months via telephone calls and questionnaires. This study took place in all 50 states, the district of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. Many of these vaccines, such as the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine, can help prevent very fatal diseases that once wreaked havoc on the general population. Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, yet there are cases occurring around the country. According to the report, there were 118 measles cases in 2017. Doctors fear that because of the increase in unvaccinated children, that number will increase. In 2001, just 0.3 percent of the children born were not vaccinated, which jumped to 0.9 percent in 2011, and a staggering 1.3 percent in 2015. Based on these statistics, those without insurance were the least likely to receive vaccines even though they are eligible for free vaccinations.

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According to the CDC, “Unvaccinated children in the 2017 NIS-Child were disproportionately uninsured: 17.2 percent of unvaccinated children were uninsured, compared with 2.8 percent of all children.” This could mean that there is a miscommunicated amongst healthcare professionals and patients. Perhaps the parents are unaware that they are eligible for the free vaccinations. The CDC reports that “These disparities could be reduced with greater awareness and use of the Vaccines for Children† (VFC) program, eliminating missed opportunities to vaccinate children during visits to health care providers, and minimizing interruptions in health insurance coverage.”

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On the other hand, many parents choose not to vaccinate because of a misunderstanding in the science behind vaccinations. Much of this backlash against vaccination was due to the hysteria caused by a single report that linked vaccines to autism that was published in the Lancet, a peer reviewed medical journal. This report has since been debunked multiple times, which led removal of the study. Nonetheless, there is a growing number of parents (dubbed “anti-vaxxers”), that still refuse to vaccinate their children.

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Although these statistics are showing a step in the wrong direction, the CDC reports that the amount of children still being vaccinated is still very high. “Overall vaccination coverage among young children remained high and stable in the United States in 2017. However, the findings from this survey highlight several opportunities for improvement.” The CDC then says that these issues can be resolved by having better communication between patients and doctors.

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“A number of evidence-based strategies have also been described that could enhance these efforts to increase vaccination coverage, such as notifying parents when children are due for a vaccination, establishing standing orders or policies that allow nonphysician personnel to administer vaccines, and enhancing computerized immunization information systems for tracking vaccinations”