200,000 unvaccinated children for routine immunization in Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee (WKRN) – Tennessee Health Department leaders reported that the number of children not receiving the recommended vaccine increased by about five-fold in 2021, and the immunization rate of children increased. Is causing concern. They and others are vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases.

Dr. Paul Petersen, Interim Director of the Tennessee Vaccine Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program, said: health “Once again, if you want to prevent really serious illnesses from returning to your community, you need to regain these immunization rates.”

The Department of Health has released a 2021 immunization survey of 24-month-old children in Tennessee. In this study, 10 types of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (in combination with DTaP), polio (IPV), measles, mumps, rubella (in combination with MMR), and hemophilus influenza B (in combination with DMR). We evaluated the recommended vaccines for the prevention of serious illnesses. HIB), hepatitis B (HBV), rubella (VAR), and pneumococcus (PCV).

Historically, Tennessee’s vaccination rates have remained relatively high, but have not met the federal metrics of interest for healthy people, according to the report. According to the report, in 2021, Tennessee achieved two of the 12 goals of HP2020 and failed to meet any of the three goals of HP2030. The state is also ranked in the bottom 20% of the state with the completion of seven vaccine series, which are ranked 41st in the country.

“That means there’s room for improvement,” said Dr. Petersen. “The most important argument here is that identifying and immunizing children who are lagging behind is really a high priority.”

The report states that the COVID-19 pandemic has delayed many children’s daily childhood immunity and, unfortunately, has not been vaccinated with catch-up. In 2020, the dose of pediatric vaccine given to children under 24 months was about 140,000 less than in 2019. In 2021, the dose of pediatric vaccine given to children under 24 months was about 80,000 less than in 2020.

“We went back and basically looked at the number of vaccinations in this age group year after year, and we find that 220,000 children in Tennessee are deficient in vaccination,” Peter said. Dr. Sen explained.

They reported that immunization rates in late 2020 returned primarily to 2019 levels, vaccination rates from 2020 to 2021 increased overall, and vaccines in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. The difference between vaccination rates and vaccination rates in 2021 is a cause of concern for pandemics.

“There are also some significant racial disparities,” explained Dr. Petersen. “Over the state, we find that black children are more likely to be immune-deficient than white children.”

The department is currently working to send a message that immunization needs to be caught up.

“We are working with the healthcare provider community to use our immune system to send reminders and recalls to families with children who are not fully vaccinated according to age. It has the ability to do and really empowers them, “Dr. Petersen said. “So we are giving them the tools they can bring back their children and their families so they can get the vaccines they need.”

The report said additional steps were needed to ensure that these individuals could catch up with routine pediatric immunity to stay healthy.

“We need to take creative steps to communicate the need for vaccination to parents and their children, because there is some hesitation,” Dr. Petersen said. “We need to reinforce the importance of these vaccines. As you know, the CDC has identified vaccines as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the last century. There are people who have never seen these illnesses for the success of the vaccine, and we need to continue it, or we will see a really serious illness develop. I definitely want to prevent it. “

He said they were in careful discussion with their health care providers and that the summer months would be important for getting their children vaccinated in time for the next school year.

“Actually, there are kindergarten research reports coming out next month or so, and those children have diminished,” said Dr. Petersen. “There are some counties with immunization rates for these kindergartens less than 95%, and that is one of the benchmarks we are aiming for to prevent the outbreak of infectious diseases, which is a threshold of 95%. , Some of the data show that the number is below that number for the entire state at this time. “