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Santa Clara Co. Launches New Campaign To Boost Vaccination Numbers In Children

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- More continues to be learned about one of the long-term impacts the COVID pandemic.

Childhood vaccines of all kinds have declined since the start of it.

Father of two Steven Brock says he's made it a point to keep his 3-year-old and 4-month-old kids up to date on immunizations.

But says at times, it was challenging.

"With COVID, and everything, it was hard to even get into the hospitals," Brock said, "So a lot of that regular schedule of three months, six months, one year kind of went by the wayside, unfortunately."

MORE: Extra spring COVID-19 booster shot cleared for certain Americans

National and global data show a decline in childhood vaccines, a trend also seen more locally.

Data from the California Department of Public Health shows that hundreds of Santa Clara County kindergartners are past due for required vaccinations.

This is something the county says puts children at risk of illness and keeps them from going to school.

Patricia Cerrato is Santa Clara Public Health Department's Immunization Program Manager.

She says they're focused on making sure kids are getting both required and recommended vaccines.

MORE: Why is California's most vulnerable population not up-to-date on COVID vaccinations?

The department held listening sessions with community members.

They found that missed appointments due to pandemic impacts are a big reason locally for the numbers seen.

But they also learned more.

"We also heard that there was misinformation," Cerrato said. "The community was asking to provide more information about the vaccines."

MORE: CDC adds COVID-19 shots to list of routine vaccines for kids and adults

So now, in a push to boost the vaccine numbers and provide truthful information to both families and health care providers, Santa Clara County is launching a new campaign called "Vaccines Are Another Part of Growing Up".

Aimed at reaching multiple cultures in multiple languages.

"We wanted to reach all of the community in Santa Clara County," Cerrato said, "So that they get informed, they know that the vaccines are safe."

The website, partofgrowingup.Org provides information and resources to parents about vaccines, finding vaccine records and low cost ways to get them.

MORE: Researchers make important progress toward a possible universal flu vaccine

"I'm definitely in favor of building immunity for the whole population," Brock said of the campaign, "When kids are at that age where they've particularly vulnerable to lots of viruses and diseases, I think it's up to the parents to make the informed choice to protect their kids."

The county has received one million dollars in federal funding for the campaign through a COVID grant.

Money they say will be focused on getting parents critical information.

"We want to let them know that these vaccines are there," Cerrato said, "That they are accessible and for everybody."

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UNICEF Report Finds Declining Confidence In Childhood Vaccines During Pandemic

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A child receives a polio vaccine during a nationwide polio vaccination exercise in Nyimbwa subcounty of Luwero district, Uganda, Nov. 4, 2022. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua)

"This data is a worrying warning signal. We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic. Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

UNITED NATIONS, April 20 (Xinhua) -- A new report of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) finds that public perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined during the COVID-19 pandemic in 52 out of 55 countries studied.

The State of the World's Children 2023 report, which, for the first time, is solely dedicated to routine immunization, reveals that the perception of the importance of vaccines for children declined by more than a third in South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Ghana, Senegal and Japan after the start of the pandemic.

China, India and Mexico were the only ones among the 55 countries studied where the data indicates the perception of the importance of vaccines held firm or even improved, according to the report, which was launched on Thursday.

Vaccine confidence is volatile and time specific. Additional data collection and further analysis will be required to determine if the findings are indicative of a longer-term trend. Despite the falls, overall support for vaccines remains relatively strong. In almost half of the 55 countries studied more than 80 percent of respondents perceived vaccines as important for children, said UNICEF.

However, the report warns that the confluence of several factors suggests the threat of vaccine hesitancy may be growing. These factors include uncertainty about the response to the pandemic, growing access to misleading information, declining trust in expertise, and political polarization.

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A health worker gives a dose of the polio vaccine to a child during a vaccination campaign against polio in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 21, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

"At the height of the pandemic, scientists rapidly developed vaccines that saved countless lives. But despite this historic achievement, fear and disinformation about all types of vaccines circulated as widely as the virus itself," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in a press release. "This data is a worrying warning signal. We cannot allow confidence in routine immunizations to become another victim of the pandemic. Otherwise, the next wave of deaths could be of more children with measles, diphtheria or other preventable diseases."

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted childhood vaccination almost everywhere, especially due to intense demands on health systems, the diversion of immunization resources to COVID-19 vaccination, health worker shortages and stay-at-home measures.

The report finds that 67 million children missed out on vaccinations between 2019 and 2021. Children born just before or during the pandemic are now moving past the age when they would normally be vaccinated, underscoring the need for urgent action to catch up on those who were missed and prevent deadly disease outbreaks.

In 2022, the number of measles cases was more than double the total in the previous year. The number of children paralyzed by polio was up 16 percent year on year in 2022. When comparing the 2019 to 2021 period with the previous three-year period, there was an eight-fold increase in the number of children paralyzed by polio, highlighting the need to ensure vaccination efforts are sustained.

The pandemic also exacerbated existing inequities. For far too many children, especially in the most marginalized communities, vaccination is still not available, accessible or affordable. Even before the pandemic, progress on vaccination had stalled for almost a decade as the world struggled to reach the most marginalized children.

Of the 67 million children who missed out on routine vaccination between 2019 and 2021, 48 million of them did not receive a single routine vaccine. By the end of 2021, India and Nigeria -- both countries with very large birth cohorts -- had the largest numbers of zero-dose children. But increases in the numbers of zero-dose children were especially notable in Myanmar and the Philippines, shows the report.

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People wait to receive oral cholera vaccines in the town of Muhammara, Akkar Governorate, in northern Lebanon, on Nov. 12, 2022. (Photo by Khaled Habashiti/Xinhua)

The report urges governments to urgently identify and reach all children, especially those who missed vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic; strengthen demand for vaccines, including by building confidence; prioritize funding to immunization services and primary health care; build resilient health systems through investment in female health workers, innovation and local manufacturing.

"Immunizations have saved millions of lives and protected communities from deadly disease outbreaks," said Russell. "We know all too well that diseases do not respect borders. Routine immunizations and strong health systems are our best shot at preventing future pandemics, unnecessary deaths and suffering. With resources still available from the COVID-19 vaccination drive, now is the time to redirect those funds to strengthen immunization services and invest in sustainable systems for every child."  ■

Judge: Mississippi Must Allow Religious Exemption From School Vaccine Requirements

Mississippi must join most other states in allowing religious exemptions from vaccinations that children are required to receive so they can attend school, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden handed down the decision Monday in a lawsuit filed last year by several parents who say their religious beliefs have led them to keep their children unvaccinated and out of Mississippi schools. According to the lawsuit, some of the plaintiffs are homeschooling their children, while others have family or work connections in Mississippi but live in other states that allow religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations.

Ozerden set a July 15 deadline for the Mississippi State Department of Health to allow religious exemptions. The state already allows people to apply for medical exemptions for a series of five vaccinations that are required for children to enroll in public or private school. The immunizations are against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis; polio; hepatitis; measles, mumps and rubella; and chickenpox.

Mississippi does not require COVID-19 vaccinations.

The only states without religious or personal belief exemptions for school immunization requirements are California, Connecticut, Maine, Mississippi, New York and West Virginia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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In response to questions from The Associated Press on Tuesday, health department spokesperson Liz Sharlot declined to say whether the department will appeal the judge's ruling. She did not say whether the department has an estimate of how many people might seek religious exemptions from vaccinations.

"The Mississippi State Department of Health continues to support strong immunization laws that protect our children," Sharlot said. "Beyond that, it is our long-standing policy that the Agency does not comment on pending litigation."

Parents with their children and medical professionals listen to testimony from proponents for allowing exemption from the vaccination requirement for school attendance based on religious beliefs during a meeting of House Judiciary B Committee, Jan. 24, 2018, at the Capitol in Jackson, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

The lawsuit, funded by the Texas-based Informed Consent Action Network, argued that Mississippi's lack of a religious exemption for childhood vaccinations violates the U.S. Constitution.

"The State of Mississippi affords a secular exemption to those with medical reasons that prohibit vaccination, reflecting that it can accommodate students that are unvaccinated," the network said in a statement. "It has simply chosen to not accord an exemption when it is someone's immortal soul that a parent believes would be at risk."

One of the families who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit believe "God has created humans with functioning immune systems that were well designed to counteract threats," the lawsuit said, adding that they only seek out medication "when an intervention is clearly necessary."

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Mississippi once had a religious exemption for childhood vaccinations, but it was overturned in 1979 by a state court judge who ruled that vaccinated children have a constitutional right to be free from associating with their unvaccinated peers, the lawsuit said.

Over the last several years, Mississippi legislators have rejected proposals to allow religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations. Health officials have argued that allowing more exemptions could lead to the spread of preventable diseases.

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