Doctors urge parents to vaccinate their children amid rising COVID cases

BALTIMORE – As you prepare your child to return to school, put vaccinations on your to-do list.

Doctors advise parents to make appointments for their child now to prevent a surge in respiratory illnesses, including COVID.

With all the summer travel and rising COVID cases, the first day of school could become a breeding ground for virus spread.

But a jab in your child's arm could prevent your child from getting sick and save the lives of other family members in your household.

To combat the latest strains, new booster vaccines against Covid-19 are expected to come onto the market later this month and in September.

Doctors are therefore urging parents to call their pediatrician now.

“The new vaccines that are coming out just as children are starting school will protect them from these specific variants,” said Dr. Atul Grover, executive director of the AAMC Research and Action Institute.

Dr. Grover is particularly concerned because the number of childhood vaccinations is declining.

According to the CDC, vaccination rates among kindergarten children remain at their lowest levels in decades; only 93 percent of them are vaccinated.

“That’s three-quarters of a million primary school-aged children who are at higher risk,” Dr Grover said.

With COVID cases skyrocketing in 35 states, Dr. Grover is also concerned about the decline in COVID testing.

However, testing can be crucial.

“We now have some drugs like Tamiflu for flu and Paxlov for Covid,” he said. “If you take these in the first few days of illness, your risk of becoming seriously ill is greatly reduced and also the duration of your illness and your absence from school or work is reduced.”

If your child rolls up their sleeves and gets vaccinated, it could help curb the dangerous resurgence of Covid waves.

“We know that Covid doesn't hit them as hard. But if your children get sick and come back to you … as adults and maybe as grandparents, they're more likely to make those people very, very sick.”

Don’t forget measles, mumps and rubella.

Due to a lack of vaccinations, the number of these diseases has increased sharply this year and they can be fatal to your child.

The CDC recommends that your child receive the first dose of this vaccine at 12 and 15 months of age.

Then a second dose between the ages of 4 and 6.