Childhood vaccination rates dropped drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it could potentially mean a resurgence of diseases we've long had under control.

Approximately 66% of children aged 5 months in the United States were up to date for all CDC-recommended childhood vaccines in 2016-2019. By May 2020, that number declined to 49.7%.

A major driver of the downturn in vaccinations was canceled or skipped well-child visits. Shortly after the United States declared a national state of emergency in March 2020 to control the pandemic spread of SARS-CoV-2, public health officials stressed the importance of social distancing and issued shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders. These policies slowed the spread of the coronavirus, but also caused parents and healthcare providers to postpone doctors’ appointments and well-child visits to avoid any potential exposure to life-threatening contagious disease. So many caregivers delayed all non-emergency medical care, including vaccines for children.

Unfortunately, these missed well-child visits resulted in “significant declines incomplete vaccination coverage in children at all milestone ages.