Opinion: We must protect vaccines

With a new presidential administration being sworn in in January, there has been a renewed discussion about the efficiency of vaccines. This worries me as a parent and community member. As the executive director of PlayWorks Pennsylvania, I work daily to improve children’s health and well-being by promoting physical activity and safe play. I see firsthand how physical health directly impacts all other aspects of our kids’ lives.

As a mom of three, I know that a critical part of keeping our kids healthy is protecting them from dangerous infectious diseases. With vaccination rates dropping across the country, it’s more important than ever that we get clear guidance from public health agencies on how and when to vaccinate our children.

Meningococcal disease is one of the illnesses that children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to. It is a bacterial infection that can spread to the bloodstream and cause tissue swelling around the brain or spinal cord. This disease is spread from close contact with others, like sharing drinks. This poses a challenge because playtime, socialization and time spent with other children are essential to our kids’ well-being. However, with lower vaccination rates, these activities could lead to the spread of infectious diseases. 

Thankfully, an effective vaccination schedule was developed in the mid-2000s, which has kept meningococcal disease rates down for nearly 20 years. This schedule calls for the first dose to be administered between ages 11 and 12, and a second dose at age 16. That first dose is crucial to protecting adolescents in their most vulnerable years.

Despite this schedule’s proven effectiveness, the Advisory Council on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is considering delaying the administration of this vaccine. The proposed change would remove the first dose from the recommended schedule, leaving children unvaccinated against meningococcal disease until age 16. 

In the long term, this change could also leave thousands of adolescents and children unvaccinated against meningococcal disease. By the time adolescents are 16, they are far less likely to go to their annual medical checkups, so we must do everything we can to ensure they are protected from this disease early on. This suggests that administering the first dose at ages 11-12 is imperative, considering that in adolescence, children and young adults are particularly vulnerable to the disease through their participation in social activities.  

If the ACIP implements this change, it will undoubtedly put our children at risk. As parents, we do everything we can to keep our kids safe, but we depend on experts to give us the best guidance possible. The ACIP has seen how effective the current meningococcal disease vaccination schedule is. I urge them to maintain it and keep our children protected.

Now more than ever, we can not question the benefits of vaccines and fall into the false trap of misinformation.