Michigan doctors urge for vaccinations as infections surge across the US

OAK PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - It's an alarming trend as low vaccination rates are leading to surges of infections across the country that were once thought to be a thing of the past.

Now Michigan health care officials and advocates are sounding the alarm.

Local perspective:

Veronica McNally founded the ‘I Vaccinate Campaign’ after losing her infant daughter, Francesca Marie, to whooping cough in 2012. It's a campaign to spread awareness about the importance of vaccines.

As cases of whooping cough surge in Michigan, state officials want families to take action.

"We are really here to sound the alarm because we are seeing some real consequences from declining childhood vaccination rates," said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian with MDHHS.

The state is also dealing with growing cases of measles as officials monitor a measles outbreak in Montcalm County.

"If we look at MMR, the vaccine that prevents against measles, mumps, and rubella, our coverage is down to about 79% statewide," said MDHHS Director of Immunization Ryan Malosh. "If we look back at March 2020, our coverage was about 85%."

The medical community is calling it vaccine hesitancy.

"We are struggling to help to educate the parents of our young children in the state of Michigan about the importance of vaccinations," said Dr. Rachel M. Klamo. "Vaccine hesitancy has increased. This is real; these children are in our offices and our emergency departments."

What they're saying:

The medical community says vaccines are safe and effective, and if you have questions, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

"The CDC recommended schedule protects against 16 diseases by age 18 and is backed by every major medical organization in the country," said Bagdasarian. 

The power is in your hands.

"We have the ability to protect our children against what is happening right now across the country," said McNally.