By Karen Kier, Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team
The idiom to catch up means to reach a standard or to move faster in order to reach someone or something moving in the same direction. This idiom can mean anything from a competition of catching someone who maybe running a race or it can mean a meeting with a friend to catch up on the latest news.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on April 24 “The Big Catch-Up” program to coincide with World Immunization Week. This new campaign is driven by the decrease in pediatric vaccines prior to and during COVID-19. Routine childhood vaccines declined in over 100 countries during the pandemic. This is the largest sustained decline in 30 years.
The CDC reports a decline in pediatric immunizations during COVID-19 in the United States. The start of the 2022 school year had the lowest vaccine rates for kindergarten children at 93%. Experts believe the disruption of routine physician visits and the misinformation about vaccines contributed to the falling numbers.
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