Vigo County’s health commissioner urged people to put their political views aside when it comes to getting their children routine, required immunizations necessary for health and school.
“People need to realize these routine vaccinations have been around for decades … They have basically taken everyday illnesses like polio and made them preventable,” said Dr. Darren Brucken during an “Ask the Experts” Monday night webinar sponsored by MDwise, the Vigo County Health Department and the Indiana Department of Health.
In the COVID era, many people have become politically divided when it comes to vaccinations, particularly when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, he said.
If people consider themselves anti-vax from a political standpoint, “that should have absolutely no bearing on the choices you make for your child to get them up-to-date on their regular vaccinations,” he said.
Treat the COVID vaccination as “a totally separate issue,” Brucken said. COVID is “a whole different discussion to have with your doctor and people you trust.”
The webinar was on the eve of Tuesday’s “Back on Track” immunization event at the Vigo County Health Department; the event, sponsored by the three agencies, was intended to get children caught up on vaccinations.
In Vigo County, 32.3% of Vigo County K-12 students don’t have all required shots, according to the state Department of Health. That compares to 26.4% statewide.
Other webinar panelists were Dr. Chandrama Chakrabati, pediatrician and faculty member, IU School of Medicine, Terre Haute campus; and Torriaun Everett, vice president, health plan operations, MDwise. Patrece Dayton of WTHI served as moderator.
According to Brucken, “With the advent of vaccines against things like polio and measles, we’ve been able to basically eradicate those illnesses … from developed countries, for the most part.”
If those routine childhood vaccination rates were to decline in the U.S., some of those illnesses could start to come back.
He noted that chicken pox is much more dangerous for adults, especially older adults, than for children. Older adults can get pneumonia and even encephalitis.
With some of these diseases, such as tetanus, there is no cure.
“We cannot take this lightly,” Brucken said. “By not immunizing our kids at an appropriate rate, we can easily see recurrences of these illnesses.”
Brucken said he’s seen kids with measles and chicken pox as well as a 16-year-old who had cervical cancer from HPV. “When you see kids dreadfully ill from preventable disease, it sticks with you,” he said.
“We don’t want to see any of these diseases be mainstream,” he said.
Everett said the Back on Track events are taking places in Hoosier communities that are most behind in child immunizations.
“Our primary focus is really to try to protect that herd immunity that we’ve had for so many years as well as to prevent there being an additional public health emergency when we’re already working to combat COVID-19,” he said.
Chakrabati encouraged families whose children are behind in immunizations to take advantage of the event or to visit their family doctor.
“With the pandemic going on, last year was kind of horrible,” she said. At times, doctor’s offices were closed and parents could not come or maybe chose not to come.
“So many of these children are behind on vaccines,” she said.
Now, it’s time for those families — and children — to go back to their doctor’s office, or to immunization events, and get the shots they need to keep not only the children healthy, but everyone else as well.
“We all need to be vaccinated. There is no shortcut,” she said.
Chakrabati said it’s “easy to make up” those missed shots.
She also said that research shows there is no connection between vaccinations and autism. “It’s a false statement … You don’t need to worry about this.”
In addition, Chakrabati said she is “really excited” about the COVID vaccine becoming available for children ages 5 to 11.
The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines advisory committee was to meet Tuesday to review the evidence on the Pfizer vaccine’s safety and efficacy in kids ages 5 to 11. The Pfizer COVID vaccine for children in that age group could be authorized for use in the next week.
“The data has been very good,” Chakrabati said. She encouraged families to get their children the COVID vaccine. That will help everyone get back to a normal life, she said.
There are “very rare” instances where people should not get the vaccine, she said.
According to CDC guidelines, those who have had a severe allergic reaction or an immediate allergic reaction to any ingredient in the COVID vaccines should not get one.
The “Ask the Experts” webinar can be viewed on the MDwise, Inc. Facebook page.
In a separate interview, Bill Riley, Vigo County School Corp. director of communications, said the district expects to send out notes this week to families whose children are behind in required vaccinations. Those notes have exclusion dates, which means that by a certain date, if they are not fully vaccinated, they cannot attend school.
Every year, the district has some students who are behind in required vaccinations, but “it’s probably a little bit more this year,” Riley said.
The district also will let parents/guardians know where they can go for those vaccinations: the Vigo County Health Department, Molly Wheat Memorial Clinic, Wabash Valley Health Center or their family doctor.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.
