Amid falling vaccination rates, Michigan doctors implore parents to inoculate kids ahead of school

(FOX 2) - Backpacks, pencils, notebooks, and lunchboxes are on many back-to-school lists. But for Michigan's doctors and health experts, they say the top of that list for parents is getting their kids vaccinated.

Beyond the normal campaigns of keeping kids safe, there's a worrying trend driving this year's efforts to inoculate children. The students starting class for the 2023-24 school year in Michigan are coming in with lower rate of vaccination than in previous years. 

"This year is different," said chief health officer Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian.

Health officials from the state health department, as well as doctors and physicians from community hubs and schools are warning the declining rate will lead to an increase risk of diseases that are preventable by vaccines.

Among kids between the ages of 19 to 36 months old, only 66.5% have received their recommended doses - the lowest since 2011.

Schools in communities that have fallen below the state's targeted threshold of 70% vaccination are "at an increased risk of outbreaks of diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox," Bagdasarian said.

Understanding the cause in a drop in vaccination rates presents challenges for infectious disease specialists, but most say that a hesitancy to getting inoculated doesn't explain the full picture. Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic made it harder for families to keep up with their recommended doses.

Misinformation is associated with skepticism of some specific vaccines when it circulates in some communities. A spillover effect when there's discussion about one disease can often affect people's perceptions of the vaccine - a dynamic that was seen with the COVID-19 shot. 

However, two of the primary drivers when someone doesn't get a vaccine are parents' concerns with safety and the number of shots someone gets when they're being inoculated. To combat this, local health officials should talk about what the shots protect against.

"Talk to parents about what it prevents," said Jonnie Hamilton, a nurse practitioner, who used the Human Papillomavirus vaccine as an example.

"Especially for the young men, when we talked about what it prevents, they were more ready for the vaccine than not. Telling them about all the cancers it prevents, not only cervical cancer for young women, but for penile cancer and things like that for young men."

Hamilton and Bagdasarian were among several health officials on a call Thursday asking parents to vaccinate their kids ahead of school.

Veronica McNally with the Franny Strong Foundation, who was also on the call said for the parents that are on the fence, a close relationship with a family's doctor is key.

"We encourage providers to talk about the incredible safety monitoring systems that exist," she said. "To the greatest extent possible, if providers can isolate questions about vaccines, that's a good way to approach it."

That means recommendations from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services may not be the best way to convince parents to vaccinate their kids. But when parents and children are in comfortable settings when they are seeking advice, like a community health hub in a school district, they're more likely to trust what experts are telling them.

The hubs that Hamilton oversees are embedded within school districts, including many in Metro Detroit. They make it easier for parents to get their kids vaccinated and have a 90% vaccinate rate she said.

"We do a good job of making sure children are up to date on vaccines," she said. "It's important for parents to be aware that prevention is the greatest asset to them as far as preventing diseases."

The health officials recommended parents use the website ivaccinate.org to get the best information on vaccines as well as the risks associated with not receiving them.