New back-to-school vaccine campaign in New Jersey relying on history: "We know what happened"

A new back-to-school vaccine campaign was launched Wednesday in New Jersey by a group called Grandparents for Vaccines. They know firsthand what it's like to have contagious illnesses spreading in communities — and that's what they're aiming to stop.

They're packing backpacks for children in Camden schools. Along with the traditional goodies, there are lots of materials about the importance of vaccinations. The back-to-school vaccine education campaign is called "Before the Bell Rings."

"We have the memory. We have the history. We know what happened," Renee Wickersty, who vaguely remembers having measles before there was a vaccine, said. "I just felt tired. I just remember being tired and sleeping a lot. The good news is I'm fine, right? The bad news is not everybody is."

Before the measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected every year.

"We've seen people die, being crippled or blindness or deafness," Wickersty, who is the supervisor of health services for Camden City Schools, said. "So it was very serious."

They're worried it could happen again with vaccinations down. The U.S. is experiencing the worst measles outbreak in 30 years.

"The vaccine-preventable diseases that we're facing right now in the tri-state area and around the country are dangerous and people should take them very, very seriously," Kimberly Boller, the executive director of Grandparents for Vaccines, said.

Boller said the backpack campaign is aiming to get more children vaccinated before school starts.

"So that we can change this conversation from confusion, from fear to protection and love, which is what grandparents bring," Boller said.

The group Grandparents for Vaccines has more than 6,000 members who share their stories of being infected before vaccines to emphasize the importance of protecting children with the vaccines that are now available.