Kentucky health officials raise awareness for childhood vaccinations as pertussis outbreak continues

As Kentucky is dealing with a whooping cough outbreak, health officials say it comes during a decline in childhood vaccinations.

State health officials say the state is “experiencing an elevated rate of infection” not seen since 2017, with 130 cases of whooping cough identified as of July 17.

Scott Lockard is the director of the Kentucky River District Health Department, which serves seven counties in southeast Kentucky. He says his region has seen lower childhood vaccination rates since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were seeing some vaccination rates just shy of 95 percent pre-COVID,” Lockard said. “During COVID they went down and we saw them in the high 80s, typically for hepatitis A and the MMR and the Tdap vaccines, those childhood vaccines. They have started ticking back up a little bit, but they're still not back to pre-COVID level.”

Both Kentucky River District and state officials have been working on public awareness campaigns to bring vaccination rates back up.

“We've done social media. We have done a lot on our Facebook. We've also done a lot of billboards around our district and doing different things like radio spots, just using various forms of media, just to make sure parents are again putting vaccination back on their radar,” Lockard said.

In more rural areas of the state like southeast Kentucky, transportation to clinics can also be an issue. Lockard said mobile clinics are also an option.

“We try to make vaccination as easy as possible for our families, so a lot of our clinics have mobile units, Lockard said. “Some of the Federally Qualified Health Centers or other providers will take vaccines out to the community if transportation is a issue.”

Lockard also recommends getting vaccinated for other illnesses to prepare for the upcoming COVID and flu season.

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