Policy Changes Could Return Eradicated Diseases

Stanford researchers modeled thousands of scenarios and estimate that if childhood vaccines for polio, measles, rubella and diphtheria became unavailable for decades, the United States could see large numbers of deaths and lifelong disabilities over a 25‑year span. The simulations trace outbreaks seeded by returning travelers and growing unvaccinated birth cohorts to produce quantitative ranges of harm. The exercise highlights that supply or policy shifts — not just vaccine hesitancy — can reintroduce devastating diseases. — Policy decisions that make vaccines unavailable (via regulation, market exit, or agency restraint) can produce catastrophic, multi‑decade public‑health consequences and therefore should be a central focus of civic and legislative scrutiny.