(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/27/2024) Low vaccination rates have become a statewide issue in Michigan schools, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), with more than half of Michigan’s counties (47) classified as low vaccine pockets, yielding a 70% or lower child vaccination rate.
MDHHS Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian said in 2017 child vaccination rates were up to 75%. During the pandemic, vaccination rates dropped below 65% and have failed to reach pre-pandemic levels since then.
Vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, have made a resurgence in Michigan despite being declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. Bagdasarian said an over 90% vaccination rate is ideal to establish herd immunity for highly transmissible diseases.
“We also know that low vaccination communities can leave folks especially vulnerable,” she said. “So, when rates of herd immunity decline, that’s when everyone is put at risk. That is especially a problem if you have someone with vulnerabilities in your family.”
Bagdasarian said children too young to be vaccinated, pregnant people, people who are undergoing chemotherapy or have received an organ transplant are some examples of the groups most at risk in communities lacking herd immunity.
She said these low rates could be partially explained by the vaccine misinformation and disinformation circulating during and after the pandemic.
The founder of the I Vaccinate campaign, Veronica McNally, said she urges parents to check if their child is missing any routine vaccinations before sending them back to school.
“We know these diseases can spread quickly, and sometimes they can have devastating consequences,” McNally said. “Vaccine-preventable diseases are still a threat, and vaccinations are our best protection against them.”
