Hennepin County health officials will soon kick off an advertising push to try to get more kids vaccinated against diseases like measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and the flu.
Public Health Director Susan Palchick said the number of kids who get these early childhood vaccinations has dropped in the past three years. She said the rate of kids up-to-date on the vaccines was near 70 percent in June 2019, and this June it was down below 60 percent.
She said the pandemic may be mostly to blame, because many people couldn’t go to doctors during stay-at-home orders and maybe it got pushed back on the list of priorities.
“It's just kind of fallen by the wayside for some people,” Palchick said on Monday.
She said the county will begin advertising with several media outlets and online and social media platforms, trying to convince people they can easily get their kids up-to-date.
“They are such an important tool to prevent a lot of these childhood diseases that can be really serious,” she said. “If you can prevent these with a simple vaccine, that’s a good way to go.”
Palchick said Hennepin County officials have more information available at Hennepin.us/immunizations, or anyone with questions can call the Public Health Helpline at 612.348.8900.
