Both public

and private providers have had to deal with short supplies of the vaccines

that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough),

measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and pneumococcal disease. As a result,

providers had to defer certain doses of each vaccine in order to preserve

the available supply for those most at risk.

If the shortages

had continued, the U.S. could have faced the very real possibility of

a resurgence of many of the diseases that have become so uncommon in the

past several years.

Fortunately,

all of the vaccines that have been in short supply are returning to normal

levels, (except varicella and pneumococcal), so previously deferred doses

of vaccine can now be administered.

Because they

receive the most vaccines, children from infancy through age 6 have been

the most affected by these shortages. Though young children comprise the

group receiving the most vaccines, other populations have been affected

as well.

Students registering

for college also have vaccination requirements, usually for a second measles-mumps-rubella

vaccination (MMR), or perhaps for a tetanus-diphtheria (Td) booster. If

these students were deferred from getting these vaccines, they too should

now be able to return to their medical provider for the needed vaccine

and completed documentation.

Finally, adults

in general may have been the "victims" of the vaccine shortage,

specifically those needing a routine Td booster. Although all adults should

receive a Td booster once every 10 years, for more than a year these routine

boosters have had to be deferred because of limited supplies. These people

should contact their providers about returning for this all-important

booster.

Most parents

of school-aged children are too young to remember when measles, mumps,

rubella, and other so-called "childhood diseases" were an everyday

occurrence, a common rite of passage through childhood.

Thanks to vaccines,

our children are very unlikely to experience the temporary discomfort

and occasional permanent disability or death that vaccine-preventable

diseases can cause.

Though all

vaccines have not quite come