Child Vaccinations Dropped During Pandemic: CDC

Health officials have a new concern resulting from the coronavirus pandemic: While the practice of social or physical distancing has been quite effective in slowing the spread of that disease, there has been a significant decline in vaccination rates for the 14 preventable childhood diseases.

An investigation by Scientific American magazine found that rates of childhood immunization fell in the spring as the pandemic spread across the country, raising the risk of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks.

The Centers for Disease Control described "a notable decrease in orders" for the vaccines in a report this spring, with 2.5 million fewer doses ordered from the Federal Vaccines for Children program.

The New York NYSDOH released a health advisory in May which discussed a 55 percent decline in federal Vaccines for Children vaccine orders in the state outside of the city in April 2020 compared with April 2019.

However, the state's vaccine ordering and coverage data to date have shown that while vaccine orders declined in April, early childhood vaccine coverage has not changed. The VFC vaccine order quantities improved in May and in June to date. VFC vaccine orders were 35 percent reduced in May 2020 compared with May 2019. VFC vaccine orders for June 2020 were similar to orders in June 2019

Dr. Cornelius Ferreira, chair of Primary Care at Nuvance Health, said the large Hudson Valley-based health network continued to vaccinate pediatric patients through the pandemic.

"We reserved Monday mornings for these visit types and were able to support those patients needing vaccines using our safety precautions," Dr. Ferreira told Patch. "That being said, there was a decrease in well-child visits as a result of our initial transition to virtual visits and parents being reluctant to have their children coming into our practices for well-child visits. Our practices have now increased in-person visits and as a result are seeing an increase in these visits and thus the vaccines that accompany said visits."

SEE: Framework For Reopening NY Schools: Requirements, Flexibility

In New York, children attending day care and pre-K through 12th grade, including public, private, and religious schools, must be vaccinated unless they have a medical exemption. The vaccines required in New York:

• Diphtheria and Tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine and Pertussis vaccine (Dtap/DTP/Tdap)
• Hepatitis B vaccine
• Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR)
• Polio vaccine (IPV/OPV)
• Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccine
• Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY)
• Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine (HiB)
• Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine (PCV)

"The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most serious public health crises in recent memory," Westchester Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler told Patch. "And, as we await the reopening of our schools and day care centers, the last thing we want to see is a preventable resurgence of measles or pertussis in our community. I can’t stress enough the importance of every child being fully vaccinated."

Health officials in the Hudson Valley remind parents of children who have fallen behind in childhood immunizations to contact their child’s physician to get back on track.

"As we attempt to put the pandemic behind us – practicing social distancing, wearing masks and taking appropriate precautions to prevent any further spread of this virus – it is vitally important that we protect our infants and young children from vaccine-preventable diseases," Amler said. "Families should be in close contact with their pediatricians to make sure their children are up to date on their immunizations, to help minimize adverse health outcomes should they be exposed to an illness for which we currently have no vaccine. While we all look forward to the day when we have a vaccine for COVID-19, we already have safe and effective vaccines for a number of childhood diseases."