INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Doctors across Indiana say there’s a growing concern as fewer children receive routine childhood vaccinations. The latest data from the Indiana Department of Health shows that immunization rates for kids in the state are down from 70% in 2020 to 58% in 2023.

On Friday, Dr. Shannon Dillon is a primary care pediatrician at Riley Children’s Health joined Daybreak to discuss the issue.

“It’s very concerning. Especially since the trend shows that the numbers are continuing to go in the wrong direction rather than improving – even as we get further away from the pandemic,” Dillon said.

According to the Indiana Department of Health, 1 out of every 2 toddlers between the ages of 19-35 months have not received all of their recommended vaccines. Last school year, about 25% of Indiana kindergarteners and 6th graders had not gotten the recommended immunizations.

“I think it’s something a lot of us don’t think about because many of us haven’t seen these diseases – because we’ve had the vaccines for so long. But these are serious diseases, that have serious consequences in other parts of the world where people aren’t as routinely vaccinated. And if we don’t maintain a high enough level of vaccination in the population, then it’s really easy for them to start to get a foothold and spread in our communities again… like we saw with measles starting to have an outbreak earlier this year,” Dillon said.

Doctors point to the pandemic as part of the reason for the drop in immunizations. Dillon says some parents could be playing catch-up, the COVID-19 vaccine spurred hesitancy of other vaccines, and there is misinformation regarding side effects and ingredients of immunizations.

 “There was some hesitancy around the COVID vaccine because it was something we had to develop quickly. And that spilled over into some concerns about routine childhood immunizations, even though in many cases, we’ve had them available for decades. And there’s quite an amount of data to show that these are very, very safe vaccines. So, it can be for a lot of different reasons. Um But yes, the pandemic didn’t help,” Dillon said.

The latest version of the COVID-19 vaccine could be available in a matter of days. The FDA approved it on Thursday and says Pfizer and Moderna can now start shipping out millions of doses.  The new vaccines are arriving earlier than last year to help combat a summer wave of the virus. The CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older get the shot.  

“Talk to your child’s doctor. That’s always a good first step. Many offices including all of the Riley Primary Care offices are carrying the vaccine at this point. So we’re anticipating now that the new one is approved, that we’ll be getting stock for this fall season in and you can go ahead and get it at the same time as your flu shot,” Dillon said.

She encourages parents who have questions or concerns about routine vaccinations to reach out to their children’s pediatrician.

“Parents should just feel free to talk to their children’s doctors if they have questions. We have these conversations every day and we’re happy to talk to people. We love to educate people about this and we think it’s one of the most important things that we do for your Children,” Dillon said.