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Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Well Child Care and Vaccination
Grace Onimoe1,2, Dhanalakshmi Angappan1,2, Marie Christianne Ravie Chandar1,2
1The MetroHealth System, Cleveland, OH, United States.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted pediatric vaccination schedules, with over 43% of children aged 6 weeks to 6 years falling behind on immunizations. Urgent vaccination strategies are needed to prevent widespread health risks.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Epidemiology
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic presented a significant global health crisis with high transmissibility and mortality.
- The declaration of a national emergency in the US on March 13, 2020, led to widespread public health interventions, including lockdowns.
- Disruptions to routine healthcare services, including well-child visits and vaccinations, were anticipated during this period.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood vaccination rates.
- To analyze vaccination status and missed well-child visits in pediatric patients during the pandemic lockdown and its immediate aftermath.
- To identify potential public health risks associated with delayed immunizations in young children.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective review of medical records was conducted for 400 pediatric patients (aged 6 weeks to 6 years) at MetroHealth.
- Data collected included demographics, appointment adherence, missed well-child visits (WCC), and vaccination status prior to the pandemic.
- Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software to evaluate vaccination rates and appointment no-show data.
Main Results:
- Over 43.5% of the studied pediatric patients were not up-to-date on their vaccinations.
- More than 50% of children missed at least one scheduled well-child appointment, with 27% missing two or more consecutive appointments.
- The study population comprised predominantly African American children, with a mean age of 24.38 months.
Conclusions:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrably impacted routine pediatric vaccination schedules, leading to a significant proportion of unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children.
- Missed well-child visits and delayed immunizations pose a substantial risk for vulnerable populations, potentially leading to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
- There is an urgent need for targeted interventions and rapid implementation of effective vaccination strategies to mitigate the long-term health consequences of pandemic-related disruptions.
Objectives:
The COVID-19 virus is highly contagious primarily via aerosol transmission and has a high mortality rate. On March 13, 2020, the United States declared a national emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to enumerate the effect of the pandemic on vaccination rates during the COVID-19 lockdown and the aftermath in pediatric patients aged 6weeks-6 years.
Study Design:
A retrospective review of medical records was performed of missed well childcare visits at MetroHealth from March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020. The sample size of 400 children aged 6 weeks to 6 years were randomly selected. Demographic data, number of calls made to attempt, scheduled WCC, no show rates for clinic appointments, number of missed WCC, location of MH facility, insurance type, vaccination status prior to the pandemic were collected. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software (IBM Corp. Released 2020. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 27.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp).
Results:
From this descriptive study, we found that 43.5% of patients were not up to date on their childhood vaccination. The mean age was 24.38 months (SD 20.15). There were slightly more males (52.8%) in the study than females (47.3%) and most children were of African American descent. More than 50% of patients missed a scheduled well child appointment and 27% had a missed at least two consecutive appointments.
Conclusion:
The COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt made a significant mark on health care; the effects would be both immediate and delayed, with vulnerable population being the most impacted. There is an urgent need to prevent a large-scale health disaster of catastrophic potential that could occur if an effective vaccination strategy is not implemented rapidly.
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