Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 and Childhood Immunization Rates in the United States

Vaccines are an important part of the health and well-being of children. The CDC notes that vaccines are a safe and effective way to prevent infectious diseases and strengthen their immune systems (2019). HPV, measles, and polio are among some of the few potentially life threatening diseases that vaccines can prevent (CDC, 2019). Staying up to date on vaccinations is important for people of all ages, but especially for children and infants since their immune systems are not fully developed (CDC, 2019). Through childhood immunizations, the immune system produces antibodies to help recognize and protect against fatal diseases (CDC, 2019). In the US, during the pandemic, there was a decrease in the number of children getting their regular vaccines. According to a study done in the United States, “Among children aged \u3c24 months and children aged 2–6 years, DTaP doses administered declined an overall median of 15.7% and 60.3%, respectively, across all jurisdictions compared with the same period during 2018 and 2019” (Patel et al., 2021). Further research needs to be done regarding the exact reasons for the decrease in vaccinations during the pandemic, but regardless, there are potentially severe health ramifications for children being unvaccinated. The purpose of this poster is to examine changes in childhood vaccination rates since the pandemic began, its implications for the health of children, and to discuss future initiatives of vaccine programming.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/3569/thumbnail.jp