Vaccine hesitancy has always been an obstacle for physicians.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization identified reluctance or refusal to use available vaccines as a top ten threat to public health.
Now, exemptions from school related vaccine requirements have risen.
In the 2019-2020 school year, state-required vaccination rates were at around 95% for kindergarteners nationally.
This school year, that number was down to 93%.
Realistically, that means that since coverage for the MMR vaccine was at around 93%, 250,000 kindergarteners were at risk for measles infections.
Given this national context, I was curious about vaccination uptake here in the Northwoods.
I reached out to Robbie Deedee, a public health nurse with the Oneida County Health Department.
“We want to ensure that the vaccine- we, as healthcare providers need to ensure- that the vaccine is safe, establish that there is a need for the vaccine, address any cultural concerns and make sure that we maintain and ensure trust, all those things will impact someone's willingness and their hesitancy to be vaccinated,” said Deedee.
Deedee says they’ve noticed a degree of hesitancy on a county and state level.
“One of the big shifts that we've had is changing the expectations or trying to communicate a change of understanding of expectations into the community, that taking it from wild to mild that even though you're vaccinated, you still may get influenza, you still may get COVID. But what we want to see is a decrease in overall severity of illness. So we're talking, hospitalization and death,” said Deedee.
Deedee said that staying current on vaccinations decreases hospitalization risk by almost 11 times and fatality related to COVID complications by up to 14 times.
In the colder months, respiratory illnesses like the flu spike annually.
COVID-19 rises, but vaccination rates are still low.
According to Wisconsin Department of Health data, around 13% of the population statewide received at least one dose of the newest booster.
Forest County has one of the lowest rates, at less than 7%.
In Oneida County, a little over 14% of the population has their updated shot.
Robbie Deedee is a public health specialist at the Oneida County Health Department.
He said that the department has noticed a decrease in overall vaccine uptake, including standard childhood immunizations as well as seasonal shots.
“These vaccines are highly effective, both our seasonal vaccines and our routine childhood vaccinations in preventing severe illness. And again, some of our vaccines are very, very effective, or they're protecting against various stable bacteria and viruses,” explained Deedee.
In April, the department received a $91k grant to improve COVID-19 and flu vaccines rates.
“Our target goal is to make sure that everyone that wants a vaccine has a vaccine available to them. And so to that end, we have had really high numbers of vaccination from our department,” said Deedee.
Over the winter, respiratory illnesses tend to increase, so Deedee emphasizes that it’s important to stay up to date on your vaccines.
Vaccines are a component of preventing disease, but it’s still important to take care of your overall health with hand-washing, a good diet, rest, and exercise.
