Vaccination in Israel is actually quite accessible (and free) through Tipat Chalav, the well baby clinic. No need to sit in a Dr’s office exposing baby to sick kids. From almost birth until age 2 or so, parents take their babies there for periodic check-ups, monitoring growth and developmental milestones, and vaccinations according to the set schedule. Every neighborhood has them. It’s just a matter of remembering to show up for the appointment, taking the time from work or whatever to go. Afterwards, the boosters are done in school. They even started to give flu shots to the younger grades – something I never bothered with for my kids when it involved a trip to the clinic, since my kids have B”H not gotten the flu in the past and by the time I usually remember, the season is mostly over.
I suspect the high non-vaccination rate is due partly to ignorance and partly to the attitude of “hakol yehiye b’seder” and partly to the very busy lives of parents raising large families. Less exposure to media means less knowledge on medical issues in general (they are not reading all the scary stories out there on the internet and in parenting magazines), there are those who don’t even get the frum papers. And Israelis have sort of become used to relying on miracles for survival, hence the “hakol yehiye B’seder” (all will be well) attitude. This also explains why I so often see young children crossing streets by themselves or riding in cars without seat belts and car seats. It’s not because their parents don’t love their kids, it’s because they may not be fully informed of or think about the dangers so they just do what is most convenient and not necessarily what is smart or requires a bit more hishtadlus.
I don’t know if these factors apply to America.