Q & A: Taking Your Child to the Doctor During COVID-19

By Dr. Maya Heinert, MD

Is being up-to-date with immunizations important for my child right now?

Immunizations remain a vital component of pediatric health care, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Immune systems are still developing in children and infants, and vaccinations produce antibodies that allow the immune system to build up the ability to fight a particular disease. Despite the current need to maintain social distancing, vaccine-preventable diseases such as chickenpox and measles continue to circulate, so vaccines provide the protection children need if exposed.

Also, don’t forget that flu season is right around the corner! A yearly flu shot is recommended for anyone 6 months of age or older. Flu vaccines are updated each year to protect against ever-changing flu viruses.

Are immunization rates really a problem?

Most parents know that infants need frequent immunizations and make the effort to get babies in to the doctor’s office.

But after the flurry of early childhood, pediatricians see a significant drop in immunization rates, especially after kindergarten when required shots must be documented to start public school. (The CDC offers parent-friendly vaccine schedules for infants to teens, or you can download the CDC’s free app for smartphones.)

The truth is that kids need boosters of many of the shots they had as infants to remain protected. In addition, newer immunizations have been added that many parents didn’t benefit from when they were kids, so they may not know about them. To make the situation worse, across the state, childhood immunization rates plummeted 40% following the stay-at-home order.

This drop in vaccinations has put children at risk for preventable diseases. This issue is even more serious for children in vulnerable populations.

For example, as of August in Santa Cruz County, just over half of 2-year-olds on Medi-Cal are up-to-date with shots; the stats for 13-year-olds are only slightly better at 56%. While these numbers are higher than the Medicaid national average — 35% for both age groups — that means nearly one out of every two kids is not protected!

My child is due for shots but … can’t we wait until there’s a vaccine for COVID?

Don’t wait! While it appears likely that a COVID vaccine may be available for wide spread use in early 2021, that’s FAR too long to wait for many booster shots and leaves kids unprotected during an already vulnerable time.

Bottom line: Don’t take chances – Check in with your child’s doctor and don’t neglect routine well checkups.

What about the risk of my child (or me) getting COVID from the doctor’s office?

Most doctors have specific hours and locations where they can examine healthy kids for regular checkups and vaccines.

Of course, it’s still important for everyone over 2 years of age to wear a mask and for everyone to sanitize their hands often and social distance from anyone not in their family. And if you or your child are sick, please stay home.

The most important thing to do is check in with your doctor’s office over the phone — they can give you specific details about whether it’s necessary to bring your child into the office for a check-up.

My child is up-to-date with immunizations. Do we still need a well-check appointment?

Yes, because your child or teen’s well-check visit is about so much more than immunizations!

At well check visits, your child’s overall health, growth and development, mental and emotional status, how they are progressing in school — all will be assessed by the doctor.

For school-age children, the doctor can assess if they are progressing in developmental milestones. For teens, the doctor will often ask if they want some time alone to ask questions about their body, sexuality, drugs, vaping or other fears about COVID-19.

Also, with so many normal school and extracurricular activities currently shut down, your child’s pediatrician might be one of the few adults they encounter outside the home who are looking out for their well-being. Right now is a very important time in your child’s life to understand the importance of having a trusted doctor looking out for their welfare.

Check in, check up.

Call your pediatrician. Find out when your child is due for immunizations or a well-child check and schedule that appointment. If your child hasn’t had a flu shot this year, now is the time to schedule that too.

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Maya Heinert, MD is medical director of the Central California Alliance for Health, a Medi-Cal managed care health plan focused on improving access to health care for 347,000 residents of Merced, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. She has more than 20 years of pediatric care experience in Central California.