WA officials concerned about drop in immunizations for kids during pandemic

State and nationwide, immunization rates for children have dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are concerned that babies and kids aren’t getting all the vaccines they need to protect them,” said Dr. Kathy Lofy, state health officer at the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). “Decreasing vaccinations increases the risk that we could see an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease.”

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According to the Washington DOH, providers in Washington’s Childhood Vaccine Program administered 30% fewer vaccines to 0-18 year-olds in year-over-year in March 2020.

This drop mirrors the trend seen across the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a decrease in the amount of vaccines ordered over the past few months.

It is believed that concerns about exposing themselves or their children to COVID-19 may be contributing to the drop in immunizations as parents are worried about going in to a clinic.

“To the extent that this is the case, reminding parents of the vital need to protect their children against serious vaccine-preventable diseases, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, is critical,” according to the CDC report.

KIRO Radio spoke with Dr. Tom Courtney, a pediatrician at UW’s Kent-Des Moines Clinic. Courtney and other health care professionals are concerned children are missing scheduled immunizations, which could lead to an outbreak of measles or whooping cough.

“These are some pretty serious diseases, and you know, COVID is something that we worry a lot about and are concerned about, but we don’t want any of these diseases to happen on top of what’s already going on,” he said.

Courtney stressed that clinics are safe and that social distancing measures are being taken in waiting rooms. The first few hours of the day have been set aside for vulnerable infants and toddlers.

“We’ve done the social distancing at the front desk to try to make sure you’re at least six feet away,” he said. “And we’ve talked about, if need be, having people in a virtual waiting where you sit in the parking lot in your warm car and away from other folks so you’re not sitting in a waiting room.”

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Gov. Jay Inslee shared concern about the decrease in immunization rates during his press conference Friday. He, like Dr. Courtney, encouraged everyone not to delay appropriate health care because of COVID-19.

“We’re particularly concerned that it appears that immunization rates may have gone down in various places, as much as 30 percent in some circumstances compared to what 18 year olds were having in March 2019,” Inslee said. “We really need our children to be vaccinated. We can’t let one virus result in fewer children being protected against other very dangerous diseases.”

Inslee said some people have expressed that they don’t feel their issues are serious enough to bother health care workers during the pandemic. But, he said, we all need to stay healthy.

“Please don’t delay appropriate treatments for chronic conditions, or new injuries, or troubling symptoms,” he said. “Our health care system now is stronger than it was a few months ago in a lot of different ways. We appreciate everyone in the health care system working to make it so.”

The KIRO Radio Newsdesk contributed to this report.

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