Here are a few fun facts/statistics about vaccines:
Vaccine-preventable diseases account for 25% of deaths in children <5 years old worldwide (mostly in under-developed countries).
Studies are done on vaccines to determine the best timing and strength of vaccines. All of the current vaccines currently received (in the US) prior to the teen years have ~125 immunogenic proteins compared to >3,200 in 1960.
A vaccine against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) was first introduced in 2007 and updated in 2015. This vaccine protects against cervical and mouth/throat cancers. Unfortunately ~25% of all girls in the US have contracted a high-risk strain by the end of high school (though the body often fights it off). For each year vaccine rates stay at the current rate of ~30% (instead of the goal of 80%), 4,400 future cervical cancer cases and 1,400 cervical cancer deaths will occur. In the US there are ~26,000 HPV-related cancers each year, ~4,000 of whom will die of cervical cancer.
Measles infected 3-4 million people/year and killed 400-500 kids/year prior to vaccine introduction in the US. ~48,000 were hospitalized and ~1,000 developed chronic disability from measles encephalitis each year (prior to the vaccine being introduced).
Rotavirus: Prior to introduction of the rotavirus vaccine, 1 in 7 US children required medical assistance, 1 in 70 was hospitalized, and 1 in 200,000 died (400-500k doctors’ visits, 200k ED visits, 55-70k hospitalizations, and 20-60 deaths/year). It prevents ~40,000 hospitalizations of kids <5 years old per year in the US. It's estimated to save ~$250 million per year.
Chickenpox (varicella): Prior to the US vaccination program, the US had ~4 million cases, 11-13.5k hospitalizations, and 100-150 varicella-related deaths annually.