Ohio health officials make plea to parents ahead of new school year

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) – We are getting closer to the start of a new school year and health officials in Ohio are urging parents to get their children vaccinated. Doctors said they are seeing more disease, but fewer children being vaccinated.

On Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Health Director, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, discussed the importance of making sure kids are up to date on recommended childhood vaccines. He referenced the ongoing threats of COVID-19 and influenza and tragic cases involving measles and other diseases, including whooping cough and mumps .

Doctors said, covid and flu remain a severe health threat. Covid went from 1,000 cases a week to more than 3,000 cases a week in the state and the numbers tend to surge in winter.

Ohio has also had seven measles cases this year so far.

Dr. Vanderhoff said, our children are susceptible to viruses that are circulating worldwide since it takes very little in this era of airplane travel for a virus to move from one part of the world to another.

He said, while these worldly viruses are real threats to our children, they have proven protection through vaccines.

“Good news is these vaccines are highly effective,” Dr. Vanderhoff said. “They are very safe and have been used for a very long time. The best step a parent can take is to have your child vaccinated with age-appropriate, recommended vaccines.”

Dr. Vanderhoff said all of these diseases are vaccine-preventable and he advises parents to listen to what their child’s doctor recommends at their well visit this summer. He said, you can prevent something terrible if they were to catch one of these worldly diseases.

”That means a child is going to be very ill,” said Dr. Vanderhoff. “A child is going to suffer, a child is going to end up with a lifetime disability or sadly in some instances a child is going to die. And we could have prevented that illness. That is what drives our concern and our messaging and our plea.”

Dr. Vanderhoff said the kindergarten vaccination rates have declined to the lowest levels in decades across the nation.

He reiterates that the vaccines are safe and they’ve been used for a very long time.

There are state regulations that parents have to follow, however, doctors said more parents are coming up with proof of exemption to get their kids out of the vaccines.

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