Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel: Immunization Policies and Implications for Children

(Health Policy)

Recent public attention to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases has reignited debates about the appropriate role for government intervention in determining vaccination requirements, particularly as they pertain to infants, children, and adolescents. Yet gaps remain with respect to rigorous research using population representative data that can best inform public policy in this area. While extensive work has been done on disease-specific mandates for childcare and kindergarden entry, there are some vaccine-preventable diseases that have not been studied (e.g. Hepatitis A). And there is less work examining effects for older adolescents of middle school age, despite that the vast majority of states have adopted vaccination requirements for middle school entry and despite that middle school age kids are the ones targeted for recently available vaccines such as HPV. Finally, we know little about how outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases affect parent’s choices about immunizing their kids. This panel brings together cutting edge papers on these and related public policy and economics issues in immunizations to provide rigorous evidence that can be used to inform public debates.