MADISON (WKOW) — As more people are vaccinated against COVID-19, local health experts are emphasizing the importance of routine childhood vaccinations for kids under the age of two.
Providers believe it is particularly important this year that parents and families stay up to date with checkups and vaccinations, as more children are returning to in-person learning, daycare and other activities.
Data shows many families skipped or postponed vaccinations in 2020. In May of 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing a drop in routine childhood vaccination as a result of safer at home orders.
“The decrease in childhood vaccinations we saw last year is troubling,” said Dr. Jim Conway, UW health infectious disease pediatrician and medical director of UW Health’s immunization program. “As people gather more and travel more, unvaccinated children are at risk of being exposed to more than just COVID-19, and without vaccines they are at risk of contracting dangerous but preventable diseases.”
These vaccines protect children against serious diseases that once devastated that population routinely, according to Dr. Conway, including tetanus, whooping cough, meningitis, measles and polio.
