‘This Is All About Health’: Doctors Say Anti-Vax Movement Impacting Traditional Childhood Vaccinations
You might see it at your neighborhood school.
The University of Miami Health System’s mobile pediatric clinic is making the rounds of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, giving parents an easy way to get their kids the vaccinations required to attend public school in Florida.
Shots for polio, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus and more. All kids need protection against these childhood diseases. On this day, we saw a group of children who have just arrived from Cuba, being vaccinated inside the mobile clinic.
Immigrant families learn quickly that vaccines are necessary.
“That’s one of our responsibilities as a school system, make sure they understand the purpose and the reason why,” said Luis Diaz, operations director for the school district. “If your child is not protected, if they miss a day of school, two days of school, that’s gonna have an impact on their educational progress, right?”
The COVID-19 vaccine is not required in Florida, but experts tell us the anti-COVID vaccine movement has created vaccine hesitancy for the traditional vaccines.
“We often hear from parents, I just want what’s required by the schools, without ever taking into consideration all of these other vaccines which protect their children against other diseases,” said Dr. Lisa Gwynn, a University of Miami pediatrician.
I asked her if the pediatric community is worried that diseases like polio and measles could make a comeback because people are reluctant to get their kids vaccinated.
“We are absolutely worried, we’re worried sick all across the country,” Gwynn said. “What has started with the COVID vaccine has now sort of bled over into the traditional vaccinations.”
The school district is recommending parents trust their pediatricians on the vaccine issue.
“This is all about health, right, this is making sure kids are healthy, this is not some sort of mandate, this is literally something that’s gonna support their children and the families,” Diaz said.
