Indy-area doctor reacts as childhood vaccination numbers drop
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — August is National Immunization Awareness Month and health experts say the number of immunized children worldwide has declined over the past two years.
According to the World Health Organization, vaccine usage has dropped since 2020 due to factors like the coronavirus pandemic and strained health systems.
The percentage of children vaccinated dropped 5% from the beginning of the pandemic until now. That means 25 million children missed out on basic immunizations last year, according to the WHO. That’s 6 million more than in 2019 and the highest number since 2009.
Dr. Eric Yancy, pediatrician and medical director for Managed Health Services in Indianapolis, says his group saw a 12% to 15% percent decrease in childhood immunizations.
Dr. Yancy said it only takes a drop of 2% to allow vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles, chicken pox, and pertussis to get into the classroom.
“So, if you say, ‘What could happen to a child that did not get their vaccines,’ they would then be susceptible to these vaccine-preventable illnesses. It could be disastrous,” Yancy said. “When they catch some of these things…some of them will give them irreversible and permanent damage.”
Yancy says many children missed out on vaccines because many doctor’s officers were closed due to the pandemic.
Visit the CDC website to learn more and check out the child and adolescent immunization schedule.