Important information for pediatricians, family medicine physicians, and parents this fall
According to a recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, routine vaccination rates for kids entering kindergarten have not reached pre-pandemic rates. These routine vaccinations include varicella, measles/mumps/rubella, polio and tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis. Likely contributors to this trend include vaccine misinformation and partisan/political stances regarding vaccine requirements. Especially concerning with this trend is if fewer children receive the MMR vaccine in the United States, this means lower herd immunity for measles. Reported cases of measles are on the rise this year.
Flu vaccination rates are three times higher than COVID-19 vaccination rates, per the Kaiser Family Foundation. A recent study showed that most parents do not intend to have their children vaccinated with the new COVID-19 vaccines that may be available this fall. Overall, flu vaccination rates also decreased during the pandemic and haven’t yet reached pre-pandemic levels.
There are likely a number of contributing factors, including parent confidence in vaccines, politicization of vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and decreases in well-child visits in the pandemic era, among others. Disparities in vaccine coverage during the pandemic have also been described in a JAMA Pediatrics article noting that “coverage among Black infants was lower than other racial and ethnic groups during the 2019 and 2020 periods evaluated.”
Taking all this together, it’s important for health care systems and public health partners to consider ways to increase vaccination uptake. Authors of the JAMA Pediatrics article encourage health system and community-based interventions (e.g., school-based vaccination programs) to support child vaccination — particularly in under-resourced communities where disparities may be more pronounced. For physicians, discussing vaccinations at well-child visits, motivational interviewing and physician messaging regarding vaccinations are evidence-based ways to improve vaccine uptake (O’Leary, March 2024).
Additional resources for vaccine information and communication: “Resources for Vaccine Information and Communication” from American Academy of Pediatrics