The CDC in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stresses the importance to parents to immunize their infants in a timely fashion to prevent childhood diseases.
The theme for the awareness events is "Love them. Protect them. Immunize them."
There are approximately 11,000 babies born in the U.S. every day who will need immunizations for 14 diseases before they reach the age of two years.
Although immunization awareness programs are highly publicized and brought to parents attention through their pediatricians and the medical community, there is still more than 20 percent of the U.S. population of two-year-olds not being fully immunized for these preventable infectious diseases, according to the CDC.
These non-immunized children are much more vulenerable to being infected with a disease or diseases that cuase possible permanent health problems or death.
"We can now protect more children from more vaccine-preventable diseases than ever before," states Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director of the CDC's National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases.
"Millions of children have been vaccinated, and millions of cases of disease, disability and death have been prevented," adds Dr. Schuchat.
"The suffering or death from a vaccine-preventable disease is an unnecessary human tragedy," said Dr. Schuchat.
The message Dr. Schuchat wants everyone to hear is to "Let us renew our efforts to ensure that no child, adolescent or adult will needlessly suffer from a vaccine-preventable disease."
However there are a small number of those who still debate and question the risks and side effects of immunizations.
According to the National Network for Immunization information, "although vaccines have saved millions of lives around the world, some have blamed them for causing conditions that are not completely understood," such as autism, multiple sclerosis and sudden infant death syndrome (or SIDS).
However, there is no scientific evidence to verify that any vaccines (or immunizations) have been the cause of these medical conditions.
The stance of medical experts is pro-immunization, based on the fact that there is no scientific proof of any diseases or medical conditions being caused by the immunizations.
Children who attend public school are required to provide proof of these immunizations before entering, and it is best to immunize the child at the recommended age for each vaccination.
