By Kate Leo
A main topic of conversation right now is the COVID-19 vaccines. Questions have been circling on the news like, are they safe? Which one should I get? When am I eligible? How much do I have to worry about the virus after I get it? How many people have to get it for us to reach “normal” again? Even though vaccines are all on our minds, there is still a threat of what’s being called a “secondary pandemic” through children missing their necessary booster vaccines. From birth to age 18, children and adolescents receive a series of shots that protect against dangerous viruses such as hepatitis B, poliovirus, rotavirus, and measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) (1). These vaccinations are given on a strict schedule to best protect the patient receiving them.
However, ever since COVID-19 hit the United States in March 2020, researchers have found that these necessary booster vaccinations are being missed at a higher rate than normal. For example, looking at the MMR vaccine, researchers found that dosages decreased from 76.1% to 70.9% from 2019 to 2020 (2). These missed vaccinations could have severe consequences. If the second or third dose of one of these vaccines is not on schedule, children have a greater chance of being sick from a severe illness that would otherwise be easily preventable (3). 90% of children need to be fully vaccinated for there to be herd immunity for MMR.(4) If this herd immunity is not reached, it can be very dangerous if one child gets sick. These viruses are extremely contagious, so they would spread easily. Measles can cause sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) which affects the central nervous system and results in death (5).
Many parents are not bringing their children into doctor’s offices because of the perceived risk of COVID-19 in these clinical spaces. However, I argue that the costs from parents not bringing in their child for these vaccinations outweigh the risk of COVID-19. Doctors are doing everything they can to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 when in their clinic. They are separating the sick from the healthy in waiting rooms, screening patients before allowing them in the office (checking for symptoms of COVID-19 and measuring temperature), and conducting telehealth visits to people whenever they can (6). We don’t want to deal with another pandemic on top of COVID-19, so parents need to be aware of the consequences that come from not bringing their children to the doctor and know that these clinics are doing everything they can to make it safe to visit.
Sources:
Ben-Joseph EP. Immunization schedule. KidsHealth. https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/immunization-chart.html. Published February 2020. Accessed March 28, 2021.
Bramer C, Kimmins L, Swanson R, et al. Decline in child vaccination coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic — Michigan Care Improvement Registry. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6920e1.htm. Published May 22, 2020. Accessed March 8, 2021.
Keeping your infant and child’s vaccine schedule during COVID-19. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. https://www.luriechildrens.org/en/blog/keeping-your-infant-and-childs-vaccine-schedule-during-covid-19/. Published April 6, 2020. Accessed March 8, 2021.
Richards SE. Before schools reopen, parents urged to catch up on kids’ missed vaccinations. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/coronavirus-before-schools-reopen-parents-urged-catch-up-kids-missed-vaccinations. Published June 10, 2020. Accessed March 8, 2021.
Complications of measles. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/symptoms/complications.html. Published November 5, 2020. Accessed March 27, 2021.
McMorrow M, Gonzalez D, Caraveo CA, Kenney GM. Urgent action deeded to address children’s unmet health care needs during the pandemic. Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/103090/urgent-action-needed-to-meet-childrens-unmet-health-care-needs_0.pdf. Published October 2020. Accessed March 8, 2021.
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