It's Vaccination Catch-up Time for Kids: An APB from AAFP President Iroku-Malize

Well visits for school aged-children, including for vaccinations required to attend public school, are one of the casualties of COVID-19 disruptions in US health care delivery.

According to the CDC, the vaccination rate for the school year 2021-2022 declined to 93% from the previous year's 94% and that was down 1% from the 2019-2020 rate of 95% for this population. American Academy of Family Physicians president Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, MBA, told Patient Care that 7% of kindergarteners without routine MMR, Varicella, and DTaP vaccination translates into a quarter of a million children at risk.

Iroku-Malize in the video below discusses the impact of COVID-19 and of negative messaging on social media on mandatory childhood vaccinations and urges family physicians to gently but consistently help get these youngsters back on track.

More from the Patient Care conversation with Dr Iroku-Malize:
AAFP President Responds to Steady Decline in Vaccination Rates for Kindergarten-aged Children

Declining Kindergarten Vaccination Rate Leaves 250k Children Unprotected: AAFP President's Perspective

Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, a family physician in Long Island, New York, is current president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Iroku-Malize serves as founding chair and professor of family medicine for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, New York, and is senior vice president and chair of the family medicine service line for Northwell Health. She oversees 4 family medicine residency programs and 3 fellowships spread across 23 hospitals. She was previously the director of the family medicine residency program at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. She is currently a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and is active in the Association of Departments of Family Medicine.