INDIANA — Across the nation, including here in Indiana, fewer parents are taking their kids to get vaccinated against once-common childhood diseases. WRTV talked to local health officials about the reasons why.
“If you aren’t vaccinating people then you’re not preventing them from getting diseases,” said Janice Vanmetre, the director of Nursing with the Hamilton County Health Department.
Desiree Fitch didn’t hesitate to get her 16-month-old started with her vaccine series.
“As a parent, I just wanted to protect my daughter from any virus that she could get,” she told WRTV.
However, not everyone chooses to vaccinate their kids.
“When the pandemic hit, we gave the COVID vaccine, but then afterward we noticed that people weren’t coming in as much for childhood immunizations,” explained Vanmetre.
“In general, we were in the 80-90 percentile on most vaccines and now we’re down to like 60-70% on some vaccines,” added Melissa McMasters, a registered nurse with the Marion County Health Department who’s also over the immunization and infectious disease program.
According to 2023 data from the Indiana Department of Health, child vaccination rates for kids 19 to 35 months fell to 59.1% for a completed series, that includes shots for polio, measles, and chicken pox.
That’s down nearly 10% since 2019.
Although numbers have slowly begun rising, health officials told WRTV they are still not where they are supposed to be.
“Most of these diseases we haven’t seen in many many years because everyone’s been vaccinating their children against them,” said Vanmetre.
Health officials say even though vaccine hesitancy is still lingering from the pandemic, it’s something that’s always been around, which is why they’re still trying to combat misinformation for education.
“We always tell them to read about it, talk to your doctor about it, and if you change your mind, you’re more than welcome to come back,” said McMasters.
“We want to see more and more individuals come in for vaccines because we are at risk right now,” added Vanmetre.
She helped launch a campaign with the Hamilton County Health Department that goes to different physicians and pharmacies county-wide also educating them about vaccines in hopes to get the numbers up.
They told WRTV that since launching in the summer, they’re already seeing progress.
In Marion County, they’ve held pop-up vaccine clinics, including in schools to help eliminate barriers to access.
They can provide free vaccines to families if they are uninsured. You can click here or call 317-221-2122 for information.
