In the last 100 years, vaccines have proven one of the most effective means of disease control and prevention worldwide.

The public often underestimates the value of vaccines because their preventive effects go undetected. Since tragedy can occur when children are not vaccinated in a timely way, compliance with state laws and efforts to increase immunizations cannot be taken lightly.

Immunization Management Program
• Adult Influenza and Pneumococcal Program
• Childhood Immunization Program

• General Information for Bergen County Residents Regarding Influenza and Flu Surveillance
• Have Your Child Immunized (Childhood Immunization Schedule) - Basic information on which immunizations children need and at what ages. 

Each year public health officials prioritize the most vulnerable adults - those 65 and over or those with chronic illness - to receive influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations first. This was even more important in 2001, due to a vaccine shortage.

The anthrax scares, which occurred at the beginning of flu vaccination season, further increased demand. Symptoms of inhalation anthrax are similar to those of flu. Some mistakenly thought that having a flu shot could help rule out flu and indicate anthrax infection. The burden was on the medical and public health communities to dispel this notion, while encouraging flu vaccination in vulnerable people.

Preventing communicable disease is essential to building a system of public health preparedness that can address a range of potential health threats, natural or manmade. With bioterrorism a reality, stockpiling of drugs, and methods for vaccinating mass numbers of people against anthrax and smallpox, are emerging as serious and complex matters.