Parents Should Still Maintain Their Children's Vaccines During Pandemic

Saint Alphonsus Pediatrician Urges Immunizations on Schedule

Parents should continue to schedule appointments to maintain their children’s immunization schedule, a Saint Alphonsus pediatrician says. Dr. Naya Antink, MD, Pediatric Medical Director at the Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, says even with the current COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, the risk of delaying immunizations for preventable childhood diseases is greater than the fear of catching the coronavirus by visiting the doctor.

“The risk to children from preventable diseases like measles and pertussis is important to remember at this time of crisis,” said Dr. Antink. “While we don’t know everything about the novel coronavirus, we believe it is usually less severe in children. Most children may even become infected and show no symptoms and recover from the virus without complications. However, certain vaccine-preventable diseases like pertussis and Haemophilus influenzae can lead to serious complications and death in susceptible children.”

Dr. Antink said with the widespread measles outbreaks in the past few years, including in the Pacific Northwest, it is clear that many childhood diseases for which we have vaccines have not gone away. She said there’s a concern that putting off immunizations now can lead to public health problems in the future.

Routine childhood immunizations, such as the Hib vaccine (Haemophilus influenzae type B), Pertussis (whooping cough), MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and chickenpox are among the immunizations that pediatricians administer on a regular schedule to build up immunity to these diseases.

SAMG clinics in the area have taken measures to minimize exposure of sick people to their healthy patients. Visitors and patients are screened before entering the clinics, there are separate areas and times of the day set aside for well-child visits and sick visits, and patients with symptoms concerning for COVID-19 are directed to specific COVID-19 testing tents.

“If your child gets sick, you should call their pediatrician or primary care doctor,” Dr. Antink said. “It is safe to bring your healthy child to our clinic for wellness visits. And if your child is sick, we have designated locations with pediatric-trained providers to assess your child and offer any treatment and advice to families.”