Vaccine Yes

There is a real risk that we are rapidly retreating on many fundamental issues: attention to the environment and its pollution, the risks of climate change, and scientific and technological innovation. This is what is happening in the United States (but also in Europe and Italy) regarding vaccines.

Let's start with data from Italy, where two vaccinations are mandatory: the hexavalent (polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae) and the quadrivalent (measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox). The so-called widespread threshold (not an average!) for safe vaccination to prevent infection is 95% to 99%. In 2012, the hexavalent vaccination rate was between 96% and 97%, but since 2015, it has dropped to 93%. In 2018, after mandatory vaccination was enacted, the national rate reached 95%. The percentage will be more or less stable until 2023, after which data is lacking. The quadrivalent vaccine rate was around 90%, then dropped to 85%, and after the law, it reached almost 95%. But the average figure fails to reveal that at least seven regions are in dire straits: in particular, Sicily, Sardinia, Puglia, and the province of Bolzano, where the threshold is reduced to 85%. Simply put: nearly 1 in 10 Italians is now at risk of measles. Worldwide, 100 high-income countries have seen a decline in measles coverage since 2010, while the 2030 goal is to reach 90% global coverage. Measles, along with polio and diphtheria, is one of the potentially lethal diseases, followed by tetanus and whooping cough. The Lancet magazine: "Routine pediatric vaccinations are one of the most effective and cost-effective public health measures. Over 50 years, they have prevented the deaths of approximately 154 million children worldwide. The number of newborns without first doses was reduced to approximately 14.7 million in 2020.

Today, Europe has seen a significant increase, something not seen in 25 years: in 2024 (data still incomplete), there were 127,350 cases (38 deaths in the first three months), a step back from 1997. Romania has recorded as many as 30,692 cases, Italy 1,097, Germany 637, and Belgium and Austria approximately over 550. Disinformation campaigns are undermining patient trust and leading to setbacks. In 2023, the estimate is 10.3 million cases worldwide (+20% compared to 2022 – WHO data).

The US, which already had serious problems with measles in previous years, has already had 1,277 infections in 2025—exceeding 2019—in the first half of the year, along with the first deaths in decades. Secretary of State Kennedy (much opposed by his family) has promoted vitamin D or cod liver oil as remedies. Last month, he fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), saying that the officials who mandated masks and closed schools would be removed, and that Biden had created a problem by making vaccinations mandatory. He has also blocked flu vaccination campaigns; halted public immunization programs; and approved Florida's announcement that it would end all vaccination requirements, including measles and polio, for public schools. Specifically, he has canceled $500 million for the development of messenger RNA vaccines, not only against Covid, but also other respiratory diseases and new frontiers against cancer. His campaign against mRNA vaccines (without scientific evidence, citing only charlatans on social media!) claims they are dangerous, ineffective, and responsible for collateral damage. All this without documentation: a dangerous weapon against modern preventive medicine, favoring new viruses and pandemics, and targeting the most vulnerable patients, the elderly, and children. Thus, with serious repercussions from misinformation in Europe and Italy, 50 years of progress in vaccinations, especially for children, are being attacked.

To improve our daily living environment, each of us should feel personally committed and oppose any manipulation, any attempt to poison public opinion with lies, simplifications that are simply lies. Starting with the next annual vaccinations for influenza and COVID-19 (the 2024 data is murky but seems to indicate significant circulation), with priority given to those over 60, vulnerable individuals, and healthcare workers.

And the show continues: Trump has urged pregnant women not to take paracetamol, claiming it is "probably associated with a risk of autism," against the international scientific community, which continues to reiterate the lack of solid evidence supporting this correlation.


NP October 2025
Carlo Degiacomi