Keeping up with vaccines keeps your child safe
The number of vaccines given to children has fallen in Washington since COVID-19 hit the state. Right now it’s more important than ever to vaccinate your child. Slowing or stopping access to immunizations increases the risk that we could see an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease, such as measles or whooping cough. Adding more outbreaks on top of COVID-19 not only would put more people at risk for infectious disease, but it also could overload the health care system.
Getting vaccines on a regular schedule as advised by your pediatrician helps protect your child, but it also protects others, especially the very young and the very old and people with weak immune systems. Missing routine vaccinations puts your child behind schedule and prolongs the period they are at risk of contracting these highly contagious diseases, some of which can be fatal.
Clinics are taking extra precautions to ensure the safety of their patients during COVID-19. Some ways some clinics are doing this is by:
· Moving all well-child visits to the mornings and sick child visits to the afternoons
· Car check-ins, so no one is waiting together in the lobby
· Separating and designating rooms for well-child and sick child visits
· Requiring all visitors to wear cloth face coverings or masks
· Limiting visitors to one parent and child only per visit
· Sanitizing rooms between each patient
Call your pediatrician ahead of time to see what their clinic is doing to make things safe for your family.
Need help finding a clinic in your area, or need health insurance? Visit the Parent Help 123 website or call the Help Me Grow hotline at 1–800–322–2588.
