Back To School: Putnam Parents Urged To Schedule Shots, Take Survey

BREWSTER, NY — Back-to-school time is immunization time, and given that Putnam County's vaccination rate dropped sharply between 2020 and 2021, health officials are reminding parents that the shots are as important as school supplies and new shoes.

For parents of young children, it is also their last chance to participate in the health department’s vaccine survey.

"High childhood vaccination rates are critical to maintaining community-level protection against diseases that were commonplace before the advent of vaccines," said Michael J. Nesheiwat, MD, Putnam County’s interim health commissioner. "Disruption in well-child visits and a decline in vaccine administration during the COVID-19 pandemic is well documented. In Putnam, early childhood vaccination rates fell nearly 8 percent from 70.8 percent in 2019 to 62.9 percent in 2021."

These rates put Putnam below the benchmark set by New York State's Prevention Agenda.

"A decline in vaccination rates make us more vulnerable to experiencing outbreaks of diseases like measles, as was demonstrated in 2018 to 2019 when the United States experienced the largest measles outbreak since virus elimination was declared in 2000," Dr. Nesheiwat said.

New York's measles outbreak, based but not limited to Rockland County and New York City, mostly affected the unvaccinated.

"During that outbreak, which was largely centered in the Hudson Valley, Putnam had higher vaccination rates and was spared the large numbers of measles cases seen in neighboring counties that had pockets of unvaccinated or under vaccinated communities," Dr. Nesheiwat said.

Rockland was also the site of the first case of paralytic polio in years, in an unvaccinated young adult. Polio had been declared eliminated in the U.S in 1979.

For polio, Putnam's vaccination rate for 2-year-olds as of Aug. 1, 2022, was the highest in the Hudson Valley though below the statewide average of 78.96 percent.

• Putnam: 78 percent
• Dutchess: 76.43
• Westchester: 76.13
• Ulster: 73.20
• Rockland: 60.34
• Orange: 58.68

The poliovirus was never detected in Putnam's wastewater, according to a new state report. SEE: After 100+ NY Polio Wastewater Samples, Health Officials Report Zero

The decrease in Putnam’s childhood vaccination rates was noted in the recent comprehensive community health assessment, officials said. That steered the health department and its community partners to select increasing early childhood vaccination rates as a top priority in the county’s health improvement plan, known as the "CHIP."

To help understand residents’ attitudes and experiences with early childhood vaccinations and to ultimately improve these rates, the health department has been reaching out to parents and guardians of young children from two to five years of age to take a short, five-minute survey launched in June. Parents and guardians have until Aug. 21 to provide feedback.

The survey can be taken in English or Spanish and is optimized for mobile access. It can be accessed at https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7316391/child-vac.

Dr. Nesheiwat encouraged families to call and visit their personal health care providers soon to schedule their children's immunizations since this is a busy time of year for many health care practices.

He added, that “No child will be refused vaccination because of an inability to pay. Through our Vaccines for Children program here at the health department, we can provide all the vaccines that make up the early vaccination series.”

The series includes the five vaccinations required for day care, pre-K, and school attendance (diphtheria and tetanus; hepatitis B; polio; measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); and varicella or chickenpox) plus two additional vaccines required for day care and pre-K.

Children attending day care and pre-K through 12th grade in New York State must receive all required doses of vaccines on the recommended schedule in order to attend or remain in school. This is true unless they have a valid medical exemption to immunization. This includes all public, private, and religious schools.

Vaccination has been called one of the top 10 U.S. public health advances of the last century, along with motor vehicle safety and the recognition of tobacco as a health hazard, Putnam health officials said.

Vaccines have made illness and death from early childhood diseases like rubella, diphtheria, and polio a rarity today, unlike the early 1900s, when they widely circulated and resulted in numerous fatalities. However, early childhood diseases have not been eradicated in the U.S., and worldwide in countries with lower vaccination rates, childhood diseases remain a serious health threat, health officials said.

Measles, for example, still circulates around the world with over 100,000 deaths annually.

To learn more about childhood vaccines and eligibility at the health department, call 845-808-1332.

The mission of the Putnam County Department of Health is to improve and protect the health of the Putnam County community. The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), serves a community composed of nearly 100,000 residents. Core services are provided through a lens of equity, and include community health assessment, disease surveillance and control, emergency preparedness, environmental health protection, family health promotion and health education. For more information, please visit our County website at www.putnamcountyny.com, or visit our social media sites on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @PutnamHealthNY.

Here are resources for families on childhood vaccinations from the American Academy of Pediatrics:

• See recommended immunization schedules (Healthychildren.org)
• Learn the importance of getting caught up on childhood immunizations during the COVID-19 pandemic (Healthychildren.org)
• Learn how vaccines work (Healthychildren.org)