Childhood immunization in the United States is in crisis. Immunization rates are at their lowest levels in two generations. Measles, pertussis and influenza are resurgent in American children. In 2025, there were 2,289 confirmed measles cases with 3 deaths, and more than 28,000 cases of pertussis with 16 deaths. In 2026, there have been more than 2,300 measles cases through late July. Return of poliomyelitis, congenital rubella syndrome, and other, long vanquished vaccine-preventable diseases is a real possibility.

This conference will examine the current vaccine crisis, review its historical and philosophical origins, consider the balance between personal choice and the common good, and develop a nuanced, ethically informed strategy for childhood immunization that moves beyond the current, highly polarized debate, builds vaccine demand, and emphasizes vaccine equity.  We recognize that carefully crafted communications will be key to disseminating such a strategy. The conference will therefore close with a discussion of approaches to communication that can bring all Americans together with the shared goal of safeguarding our children’s health.

It is our intent at the end of this conference to produce a Declaration that addresses the moral dimension of childhood immunization and provides parents, pediatricians, public health authorities, and elected officials with an ethically informed path forward.  This statement will move beyond an analysis of vaccines’ risks and benefits for individual children and present a more holistic assessment emphasizing that childhood immunization is a moral good and that children can flourish only when they live in communities where people care for one another and work together to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

The commissioned papers presented at this conference will be gathered into a book. This book will be published by Wipf & Stock and added to the series of conference volumes that Boston College has published biennially since 2020 on key topics at the intersection on public health and ethics. 

The conference will be hosted by the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good and the Theology Department at Boston College in partnership with the Communication Department, the Connell School of Nursing, the Law School, the School of Social Work, the Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of Theology and Ministry, the Catholic Health Association, and the Institute for the Liberal Arts.

Please Register to Attend. Full detail are available on our website.