An underreported concern in this age of COVID-19 is the dramatic drop in parents getting their children immunized. Statewide pediatric immunization rates have been dropping the past few years anyway, but now in 2020, they’ve dropped off a cliff compared to previous five-year averages.
The good news is that Lewis County is doing better than the statewide average. However, we’re still not where we should be to protect our children. State and national goals call for 90 percent of young children to be vaccinated against polio, measles, diphtheria, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A and B, whooping cough, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), and pneumococcal disease. In the 2018-2019 school year, Lewis County only met or exceeded that mark with the polio vaccine.
In 2020, school closures, COVID-19, and people’s fears about going to clinics have impacted immunization rates. Data compiled by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) show that in February through May 2020, monthly vaccines administered here in Lewis County for children from birth to age 18 were from 6.9 percent to as much as 19 percent below the previous five-year monthly averages.
I do hope these immunization deficits can be made up. Remember last year’s measles outbreak down in Clark County? The majority of the people who were sick had not been immunized against measles. People and entire communities suffered needlessly from that vaccine-preventable disease. Why risk a similar fate here?
Statewide drops in immunization rates are even worse than in Lewis County this year. In the same February through May 2020 timeframe, monthly vaccines for children statewide were from 4.5 percent to 39.6 percent below the previous statewide five-year monthly averages.
Why does that matter to us here in Lewis County? Last year’s measles and the current COVID-19 outbreak both remind us that diseases do not respect county borders. The measles outbreak affected several counties beyond Clark. Fortunately it seemed to sail over Lewis County without stopping. We haven’t been so lucky with COVID-19.
Immunizations are one of the greatest medical success stories in human history. Preventing illnesses is much more effective than treating them. Immunizations are the single-most important way to protect our children against serious diseases that can have lifelong, or life-ending impacts on kids, families, and entire communities.
DOH has published expert guidance for parents on what immunizations are required and what benefits they offer for your kids. Download “Plain Talk About Childhood Immunization:” free at https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/8200/348-080-PlainTalk-en-L.pdf. For a complete list of recommended childhood and adult immunizations, go to: https://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/Immunization.
For current information on COVID-19 in Lewis County, follow @LCPHSS on Twitter and visit https://phsscovid19.lewiscountywa.gov/.
