Keep up vaccinations
One pandemic must not lead to another. With proper precautions, children can be safely vaccinated to protect them from dangerous illnesses including measles, diphtheria, whooping cough and more. With proper precautions, quick vaccination procedures are unlikely to expose a child to the coronavirus.
Parents must make those vaccination appointments now that medical offices are reopening. Without vaccinations for childhood illnesses, children are at risk for serious complications from those now-rare childhood illnesses. And unvaccinated children put other children and some adults at risk, particularly those with compromised immune systems. It is essential that when children go back to school they and their classmates are vaccinated.
County health clinics and doctors can help out by staggering appointments and making house calls. In some states, mobile vaccination clinics are headed into neighborhoods to offer vaccinations with social distancing possible, except during the actual injection. Vaccinations could also be offered much like coronavirus testing -- in drive-by style in cars.
Health experts and officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are concerned about falling vaccination rates for children.
The situation has already reached crisis proportions in some states, causing concern about possible outbreaks. The CDC studied Michigan, in particular, and found plummeting vaccination rates -- and experts said the results of the Michigan survey likely extrapolate to many states.
In Michigan, less than half of infants at five months or younger by May were up to date on vaccinations. Another survey by the electronic medical records firm PCC found that during the week of April 5, vaccination rates had fallen by about 50% for most childhood illnesses compared to the week of Feb. 16, before the coronavirus outbreak.
Part of the drop, of course, resulted from the closure of many doctor’s offices and health departments, but now that those offices are reopening, it’s incumbent on parents to find out about vaccinations and get their children protected.
The catch-up times from missed vaccinations also concern doctors. The lag of even a few months in vaccinations among large populations of children could cause a surge of outbreaks of completely preventable diseases.
Parents should make an appointment, follow the doctor’s advice on how to minimize risk during the visit -and get their children vaccinated.