For the most part, yes. All U.S. states require proof of vaccination before children begin school. Today's children require 12 to 16 immunizations by age 2, to protect them from ten diseases. Vaccines are administered to children during their first two years of life so that they can be protected during their most vulnerable period. This is especially important now that many children attend daycare and other group care settings, where they are at higher risk of being exposed to infectious diseases.
Immunizations provide protection against many childhood diseases.
The viruses and bacterial illnesses that cause vaccine-preventable disease and sometimes death are still around. They have not been eradicated. Moreover, with international travel now widespread and common, it is easier than ever to spread these diseases from one population to another. Most of the diseases that vaccines now prevent are most easily transmitted when people gathered in groups, as in schools. State laws requiring immunization prevent serious outbreaks of certain infectious diseases among school-aged children, and through them, to the rest of the population.