The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is during the COVID-19 pandemic, and health officials want parents to schedule doctor鈥檚 visits for kids right away.
鈥淧eople are often saying, 鈥榃e鈥檒l wait until later in the summer when it鈥檚 time to go back to school,'” said , associate administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration鈥檚 Maternal and Child Health Bureau. “Remember, every parent is having the same idea that you are 鈥� and so everybody is going to be trying to get that done at once.鈥�
鈥淒on鈥檛 wait. Do that now,鈥� he said. 鈥淎lso, the longer we wait, the longer we have kids who are at risk for diseases like measles and meningitis. But also, that puts people and their family and the communities around them at risk.鈥�
Although the number of pediatric doctor visits increased after stay-at-home orders were lifted, the CDC notes vaccination rates still aren鈥檛 what they should be.
鈥淭his lag in catch-up vaccination might pose a serious public health threat that would result in vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, especially in schools that have reopened for in-person learning,鈥� .
Warren emphasizes the importance of regular 鈥渨ell visits鈥� for children to make sure they鈥檙e growing and developing normally and that they can see and hear well, for example.
鈥淔or each of those visits, if we are behind 鈥� we鈥檙e missing out on those opportunities, and you may have a child who鈥檚 not seeing as well or hearing as well as they could be, and that may put them at risk for delays in school and not performing as well,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, absolutely important to get them in.”
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