Childhood Vaccinations During the Pandemic - Pharmacy versus Clinic

Amidst the COVID19 crisis, childhood vaccination rates in the U.S. have plummeted. The CDC reports that up-to-date vaccination levels have declined to less that 50% for children under 2 years of age. For all children less than 18 years of age, the number of vaccines administered has declined by 21.5% since the start of the pandemic. Parents are understandably worried about sitting in a clinic waiting room with their kids where COVID19 might spread, but as geographic pockets of unvaccinated children grow, vaccine preventable diseases can get a toehold. To combat this, the department of Health and Human Services has allowed pharmacists who receive 20 hours of vaccine administration training to give children ages 3 and up all standard childhood vaccines. Because there are many more pharmacies than pediatric clinics in the U.S. and because pharmacies may be seen as safer since they aren’t in a medical setting, this should encourage more people to get their children vaccinated. In conflict with this policy, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and 44 of its chapters wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar asking him to rescind this decision. Their argument is that children need to be regularly visiting their primary care physicians. Administering vaccinations in the clinic is one way to make sure of regular patient-physician contact. Pharmacists who may now be vaccinating children aren’t trained to look for other signs of disease, allowing potentially dangerous illnesses to go undetected. While the AAP makes a strong argument, the rates at which vaccination coverage has dropped is so dramatic that it needs to be the primary concern. While the pandemic is still in full flex, temporarily providing vaccines at pharmacies is a logical way to improve vaccination rates while most physicians rely on telehealth methods to facilitate other aspects of regular childhood check-ups.

- Renata

https://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/08/28/pharmacistvaccination082820

CDC Decline in Childhood Vaccination Coverage During the COVID19 Pandemic