Now is a good time to check your child's vaccinations, get shots, advocates say
Carol Ferguson of Plumstead had a mild case of polio as a two-year-old. Her parents thought it was a “summer flu” and didn’t take her to the doctor.
Years later, she learned that the “drop foot” that she had was the result of polio. Now she is dealing with post-polio syndrome that can lead to fatigue, painful muscles and other symptoms. For her, the syndrome has been worse than the initial disease.
So when she heard that the disease that once was eradicated through vaccines developed in the 1950s was making a comeback, and that an unvaccinated young man was stricken in New York, she was upset.
“As polio survivors, this case in NY is horribly sad and deeply personal,” said Ferguson. “The injectable polio vaccine is the only vaccine to be given in the US and is highly effective against all types of the poliovirus. If only he had been vaccinated, the young man who was hospitalized never would have gotten sick at all. What's even sadder is that he will have to live with a disability and chances are high that he will have to live with the damaging effects of PostPolio Syndrome (PPS), increasing in severity as he ages, for the rest of his life.”
After the New York case was confirmed and the polio virus was found in wastewater there, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged parents to get their children up to date on their vaccinations And that includes COVID vaccines and flu shots as the fall and winter approaches.
The CDC also urged all adults who have not gotten fully vaccinated against polio as children to get their vaccine doses as well.
The March of Dimes also expressed "serious concern about the threat to public health as officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe the reemergence of the disease as, 'just the very, very tip of the iceberg.'"
Dr. Jennifer Janco, chair of the Department of Pediatrics for the St. Luke University Health Network, said: "Vaccines are key to keeping everyone in the family healthy, from infants to school children and from teens to older adults, and to preventing the spread of serious diseases in our communities."
St. Luke's has its Upper Bucks Hospital Campus in Milford.
Janco said the COVID pandemic kept some families from visiting their doctors for well checkups, and they fell behind on getting their children all their routine vaccinations, including for polio, at the right ages. So now parents and guardians should make sure their kids are up-to-date on their shots so they are fully protected against polio and other serious illnesses.
Before vaccines against polio were developed in the 1950s, the disease was a scourge of childhood, killing some children and leaving others permanently paralyzed.
Ferguson, who is the founder of the Pennsylvania Polio Survivors Network, said that when she read about the young man in New York who was stricken, she was saddened. "My heart is breaking for the young man in NY (and his family). Polio survivors understand first hand that his life has changed forever and it's all so unnecessary," she said.
More:Polio survivor joins Rotary International in urging vaccinations
And she worries that some people are now getting long-COVID symptoms that could also be avoided or reduced through the use of vaccines to prevent serious illness.
Vaccines can be delivered together
Janco said that parents can get their children vaccinated against COVID or the flu at the same time they are getting their other childhood vaccines, including for polio.
“Children can get their COVID vaccine with the polio or any other vaccines. It doesn’t need to be separate. There’s no interaction between the COVID and other vaccines.”
The only caveat, she said, is that children younger than six months cannot receive a COVID vaccine.
And she said that children need to be “reasonably well,” not perfectly healthy to receive their shots.
“Most children at any point of time have some type of cough, runny nose, allergies, those things are not reasons to put off getting vaccines,” she said, unless their doctor says a child is too sick to receive the shots. “Check with your doctor. Most of the time parents are surprised to learn how safe it is to give with minor illnesses … Parents have really gotten behind because they thought they couldn’t get their vaccines."
And a flu shot can be given at the same time as well, she said. “We can do multiple vaccines … We do try to take that advantage to protect each child.”
While upgraded vaccines to deal with new variants of COVID are expected this fall, Ferguson doesn’t think parents should put off the COVID shot for a child because the first supply of these vaccines will be for adults and children should be protected now heading back to school.
The COVID vaccines for children were first rolled out for teens age 16 and older, then for those over age 12 in May, 2021, for those over age five in November, 2021, and for those six months to four-years-old in June of this year.
The number of children nationally to have gotten the shots correlates to their ages and the length of time the vaccine has been available to them, Janco said.
Some 59% of children ages 12 to 17 have received the COVID vaccines, while for children ages five to 11, only 30% are vaccinated and for children ages six months to five, only 6% have gotten the COVID shot.
The COVID shots for children made by Pfizer and Moderna are currently available at some but not all pediatrician offices, so a parent or guardian may have to take a child to a public health clinic or hospital like St. Luke’s for the primary shots or a booster, if they qualify.
Bucks County and Montco COVID vaccination clinics
Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Department of Health, said that the county’s vaccine clinics are seeing the normal number of vaccination appointments this year.
The clinics provide vaccines for children and adult residents who are uninsured, underinsured or covered by medical assistance. And this includes people who have private health insurance that does not cover the cost of vaccines.
Appointments are necessary and new patients need to bring vaccination records with them.
The clinics are located at the Bucks County Government Services Center, 7321 New Falls Road, Levittown, 267-580-3510, and at the Neshaminy Manor Center, 1282 Almshouse Road, Doylestown, 215-345-3344. Bucks County runs three separate COVID vaccine clinics with varying hours. For information, visit https://www.buckscounty.gov/1251/Coronavirus-Vaccine-Clinics-and-Informat.
The Montgomery County Department of Health runs similar clinics in Norristown and Pottstown. For more information, visit https://www.montcopa.org/1121/Immunizations. For information on Montgomery’s COVID vaccine clinics, visit https://www.montcopa.org/3660/COVID-19-Vaccine.
To check the nearest location to get the COVID vaccine and/or flu shot, visit the CDC’s site, vaccine.gov.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Kids need up-to-date vaccinations for COVID, polio, PA advocates say
