Health Officials Warn NYC Parents About Drop In Childhood Vaccinations During Coronavirus Shutdown
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City health officials are urging parents to keep up with their children's vaccinations, even during the coronavirus shutdown.
Mayor Bill de Blasio reported a 63% decrease in the number of vaccines administered between March 23 and May 9, compared to the same time period last year.
"The vaccination rate in this city has been falling during this crisis. The sheer magnitude of it has become clear to us in the last few days," he said Wednesday.
Remi Goldner just turned 4 years old last month. That would've been when she'd get another round of routine shots at the doctor. But but her mom held off.
"I was concerned about her going into the office just because of who potentially could've been there and what germs she could've picked up," Melissa Goldner told CBS2's Andrea Grymes.
She is not alone.
De Blasio said there was a 42% decrease for children 2 and younger and 91% drop for kids over 2 during the previous six weeks.
"The reasons are obvious. Doctors' offices have been closed in so many cases, families are staying home, we've had to focus on the most urgent needs in health care throughout," he said. "It makes sense that even parents, grandparents, other guardians, family members who wanted to get a child vaccinated might not have known where to turn or might have been hesitant to go out and get it done, given everything else going on."
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The mayor specifically mentioned the pneumonia vaccine, warning that children with compromised respiratory systems are more vulnerable to COVID-19 and MIS-C, a rare illness that experts believe is tied to the virus.
"We never want to see a child get pneumonia any year, but if that were to happen this year it comes with greater dangers. A child who gets one of these diseases is likely to need to be hospitalized and they're likely to more susceptible to contracting COVID," he said. "We know that anybody with a preexisting condition can be more vulnerable to COVID. So having pneumonia or a respiratory disease makes that child both more susceptible of contracting COVID and more vulnerable to the effect of COVID."
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Dr. Suzette Oyeku is from the Children's Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx.
"As much as we're definitely worried in terms of the pandemic, this is the other concern that we're going to have an outbreak of vaccine-preventable illnesses. Illnesses such as pertussis, or whooping cough, measles, mumps," Oyeku said.
Oyeku said she understands parents concerns about getting COVID-19, but notes most all practices are taking a lot of precautions, like pre-screening children before allowing them in the office, and limiting the amount of time waiting in the waiting room.
"I'm not one of those people to ever delay vaccines, but I was worried," Melissa Goldner said, adding that since the number of positive cases have continued to drop she now feels more comfortable will be taking her daughter for her shots next week.
De Blasio said free vaccinations are available at 1,000 facilities citywide, including 70 NYC Health+Hospitals clinics. Parents can call 844-NYC-4NYC to make an appointment.
"Getting your child vaccinated is essential work. Getting your child vaccinated is a reason to leave your home," the mayor added.