Vaccination Neglected Due to Fear of COVID-19

Vaccines were made to prevent people from getting sick because it introduces pathogens into the body's immune system to develop antibodies that help fight against bacteria and viruses. More than 25 life-threatening diseases are preventable, including polio, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, meningitis, typhoid, and cervical cancer. 

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, everyone is advised to practice social distancing and to do self-quarantine at home. Medical frontliners would appreciate it if people would stay in their homes to prevent the further spread of the virus, but there is always an exemption to the rule. 

One of them is a child's visit to his pediatrician. Most parents are afraid of coming out because they might contract COVID-19, more so bringing their children or babies along with them to the hospital for routine check-ups. Parents should take note that neglecting routine vaccines and visiting their children's pediatrician could do more harm than good. 

(Photo: unsplash/CDC)
Parents should proceed with the vaccination of their kids to protect them from the preventable diseases later in life.

Vaccinations dropped due to COVID-19

On March 13, President Trump declared a national emergency due to the COVID-19. During the first week of April, vaccinations for diphtheria and whooping cough dropped by 42 percent, measles, mumps, and rubella dropped by 50 percent, and HPV dropped by 73 percent, according to the CDC as reported by the New York Times using data from a pediatrics software company. 

Two dozen countries have suspended national immunization programs, which could put more than a hundred million children at risk of getting ill, as reported by a consortium of international organizations that includes the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

Parents should not be afraid to let pediatricians administer vaccines to their children because health clinics are doing all the precautionary measures to keep the parents and their children safe. Some require that parents call first before visiting to make sure that overcrowding is prevented. 

Others schedule healthy patients in the morning and sick patients in the afternoon. Some pediatricians perform vaccines in the parking lots, while others would go to your home personally to administer them. 

(Photo: unsplash/Fusion Medical Animation)

Why it is better to be vaccinated than to delay

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that children get vaccinated because preventable diseases like those whooping cough, measles, and mumps pose bigger threats to children than COVID-19 does. 

According to the CDC, vaccinations could help prevent about 419 million diseases, 8 million hospitalizations, and 936,000 early deaths for children born between 1994 and 2018. 

The AAP said that delaying vaccinations could lead to outbreaks in the future. According to WBEZ, it is not yet happening now because children are kept at home, but it could happen when the US opens up. 

Long story short, parents should proceed with the vaccination schedule once their child reaches the recommended age for each shot to prevent a new outbreak from happening in the future, which could endanger the lives of the people around them.