title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RECOGNIZING AUGUST AS NATIONAL IMMUNIZATION AWARENESS MONTH IN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) is an annual observance held in August to highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages; and
WHEREAS, communities across the country use the month each year to raise awareness about the important role vaccines play in preventing serious, sometimes deadly, diseases across a lifespan, and NIAM is now more important than ever with the emergence of diseases such as COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, immunization isn’t just for kids; to stay protected against serious illnesses like the flu, measles, and pneumonia, adults also need to get vaccinated; and
WHEREAS, National Immunization Awareness Month is a great time to promote vaccines and remind family, friends, and coworkers to stay up to date on their shots; and
WHEREAS, measles and whooping cough are just several vaccine-preventable diseases that threaten Americans, outbreaks continue to occur, and many vaccine-preventable diseases remain common; and
WHEREAS, in addition to saving lives, vaccines provide major cost savings by preventing serious infectious diseases, and prevent us from spending large amounts of money on treating them; and
WHEREAS, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for every $1 spent on childhood vaccinations, our country saves $10.90, and vaccines given to children born between 1994-2021 prevented an estimated 472 million illnesses, 29.8 million hospitalizations, 1,052,000 deaths, and $479 billion in direct medical costs and $2.2 trillion in total societal costs; and
WHEREAS, as the operator of one of the largest Public Health Systems in the country, Cook County Government and our health system share a large portion of the economic burden of treating preventable diseases, and vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective public health tools available for preventing disease and death; and
WHEREAS, in the United States, vaccines have greatly reduced infectious diseases that once routinely caused severe illness and death. According to the CDC, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic approximately 50,000 adults died every year from vaccine-preventable illnesses; and
WHEREAS, vaccines are safe, effective and the best protection against these diseases, from infancy to early adulthood and into old age, and by getting vaccinated, we not only protect ourselves, we help stop the spread of disease to our children, families and communities; however, for vaccines to be most effective, vaccination rates must remain high; and
WHEREAS, unfortunately, continuing disease outbreaks across the U.S. remain a public health concern, and lack of access to vaccines, combined with people who are not taking full advantage of opportunities to protect themselves, their families, and their communities, leaves people susceptible to preventable diseases; and
WHEREAS, two decades ago, measles was declared eliminated in the U.S., yet we have seen more and more cases of measles outbreaks throughout the county including this year in Chicago, where 64 individuals tested positive for measles; and
WHEREAS, the explanation for measles’ return is simply that fewer Americans are receiving vaccines; Since the turn of the century, the share of American children under the age of 2 who go unvaccinated has quadrupled, and a growing number of American parents are refusing vaccines and as a result we are welcoming back a disease that decades ago killed hundreds of people a year and hospitalized close to 50,000; and
WHEREAS, part of the problem is a collective forgetting of the devastation caused by diseases such as smallpox and polio that extinguished many lives and disfigured bodies and so we must remain vigilant and continue to educate our residents on the importance of vaccination; and
WHEREAS, this Honorable Body wishes to promote and raise awareness of National Immunization Awareness Month in Cook County;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the more than 5.2 million residents of Cook County, do hereby take this opportunity to acknowledge National Immunization Awareness Month; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that in conjunction with National Immunization Awareness Month, that the month of August be hereby declared Immunization Awareness Month in the County of Cook, and encourages everyone to remind their family, friends, and coworkers to stay up to date on their shots; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this Resolution be spread upon the official proceeding of this Honorable Body in recognition of National Immunization Awareness Month.
end