Herd immunity at risk as parents avoid kid jabs

Doctors are warning that Victoria’s herd immunity is at risk after a survey found that one-in-five routine childhood vaccinations were cancelled.

Nick and Amy Van Bekkum, with eight-month-old twins Freddy and Poppy, have made sure they had the children vaccinated according to schedule. Picture: Paul Jeffers

Doctors are warning that Victoria’s herd immunity is at risk after a survey found that one-in-five routine childhood vaccinations were cancelled, with 40 per cent of parents blaming the corona­virus.

Issuing a plea to families on Sunday, National Child Health Poll director Anthea Rhodes said about two-third of parents in June alone had cancelled or delayed their children’s scheduled vaccinations at the Royal Melbourne’s Children’s Hospital’s immunisation centre.

A national survey conducted by the RMCH found that more than 40 per cent of parents said they cancelled their children’s shots because of fears of contracting COVID-19 at the healthcare clinic, while 28 per cent said they had too many other things to worry about.

“Some families are of the misunderstanding that because their children aren’t exposed to other kids, they’re not at risk of contracting some of those vaccine preventable diseases,” Dr Rhodes said.

The survey found one-in-five scheduled vaccinations for children aged five or under had been delayed or cancelled, while about a third of kids who’d been injured or unwell had their healthcare delayed because of the pandemic.

Under stage-four restrictions in Victoria, children must learn remotely while parents work from home.

Dr Rhodes said Victoria’s herd immunity would be compromised if too many parents allowed their children to fall behind on their vaccination schedule, meaning the state could see outbreaks of chickenpox, measles and whooping cough when restrictions lifted.

“If our community as a whole is not up to date with vaccinations, we risk the herd immunity coming down and that means we can see outbreaks,” she said.

The RMCH survey found 19 per cent of parents cancelled or delayed getting their children vaccinated because their GP was not offering shots because of COVID-19 while 17 per cent said they were scared of contracting the virus on the way to the doctor.

Chair of the AMA Council of General Practice Richard Kidd said parents who delayed vaccinations were putting their children at risk of infection and leaving the community vulnerable to outbreaks. “Parents who delay vaccinating their children are relying on everyone else to do the right thing to keep the herd immunity up,” he said.

“They haven’t thought it through and are actually making their children most immediately at risk of infections.”

Amy van Bekkum, who has eight-month-old twins, said she’d made sure she had her children vaccinated according to schedule, saying she trusted her doctor to keep their clinic free of COVID-19. “We’ve had the twins vaccinated on the exact day that they’re due to be vaccinated,” she said. “I’ve been really staunch about that just because I don’t want them to get behind in their vaccinations.”

Leanne Badcock, who is 24-weeks’ pregnant, made sure her two-year-old daughter, Penelope, had a flu shot this year, saying it was especially important amid the pandemic.

“The risk of a little one getting the flu … would be scary at the best of times but in this particular climate, I just would hate for her to go to hospital or have any complications, let alone COVID,” she said. “In the current environment, I just want to make sure I’m protecting her in anyway I can.”

Victoria recorded 114 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the state’s total number of active cases to 2830.