The barriers that stand in the way of children and adolescents getting vaccinated should be minimized to little or none. Vaccination is the “injection of a weakened organism that produces immunity in the body against that organism.” While many worries about injecting part of the virus into the human body could be dangerous. It is a successful system to reduce the effect of many viruses and infections among children and adolescents. Since vaccination has come a long way of constantly improving and saving lives, it should be more accessible. The identified barriers that diminish the chances of children getting vaccinated needs to examine and address the national health systems, health care providers and parents, and ways to minimize the barriers.
Parents should not have to live in fear about whether their kid will contract a deadly virus from doing everyday things for example like going to school, playing with friends, and going to playing at the park; however, kids should not be robbed of a normal childhood just because a family is not insured and cannot afford to pay for vaccines. Imagine being a parent and having to tell your kid that he cannot do normal day things because of the high chance of contracting a dangerous virus that can lead to death all just because you cannot afford it. Children can’t choose what wealth to be born into. In the article, table 2 shows “the estimated vaccination coverage among children aged 19-35 months by health insurance status” (Hill, Holly A., et al.) and uninsured is always the lowest coverage compared to the children living at or above the federal poverty level. Having the lowest coverage in every category for vaccines portrays a hardship of receiving vaccinations for people who cannot afford vaccinations.
Not being able to afford vaccines shows who health care providers should be helping out the most. The people who cannot afford it actually needs the vaccines the most because they also have the highest chance to get the virus since most of them would not have their vaccines. In a “study by Feikin et al. [45] could be cited in this case, because they found that the frequency of exemptors in a county was associated with the incidence of measles… and at least 11% of vaccinated children in measles outbreaks acquired the infection as a result of contact with an exemptor” (Esposito, S., et al.). If even the vaccinated kids acquired the infection imagine how easy it would be for an unvaccinated kid who couldn’t afford to pay for the vaccines. If the kid so happened to get sick who will feel responsible? Of course, the parents would feel responsible. Not being able to help their child out due to financial problems even though most cannot control their financial situation. Not only does national health system effect the kids’ health, but it also affects the physical and mental health of a parent determined to get their child vaccinated.
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program is a program created in 1993 but started in 1994 to protect children and adolescents from viruses, who are unable to get vaccinated due to the inability to pay. The program allows children under the age of 19 who are uninsured, underinsured, or Medicaid- eligible to receive vaccines for no cost. Some families may experience some trouble going to a health center that provides VFC to receive free vaccinations. Some parents don’t even know that their children can qualify for the VFC program while they still continue to worry about this barrier. While being able to receive free vaccinations through VFC program, families can still run into other barriers like the inability to get around places. To minimize this barrier, all physicians should become VFC providers which makes more available locations that are VFC. Then families’ local health center will now provide free vaccinations. VFC expanding will help spread the knowledge about VFC to people who still haven’t heard what it is.
Due to VFC program more children and adolescents can get vaccinated which helped a decrease in the measles’ outbreak in 1989-1991 shown in the Figure. Vaccine coverage rates among preschool-aged children (Whitney, Cynthia G., et al.) and with the VFC program it will help contain future outbreaks and minimize the chances of viruses spreading. If becoming a VFC provider, not only do you get to help kids in needs of vaccines who cannot afford it but also reduce your out of pocket costs since the physicians don’t have to purchase vaccines for the patients out of their own pocket. Not to mention the process in becoming a VFC is quite simple if a provider is “authorized to prescribe vaccines under your state law can be a VFC Provider” (Roser, Max). All you have to do is fill out some forms and prepare and educate your office and staff all the requirements of the program. A couple days of your time can help endless amount of kids who face the barriers of the health system.
As a health care provider, a lot of trust and credibility is bestowed in them. The job of a health care provider is to make sure the correct information about vaccines are provided to parents and to address any concerns they may have. In a “national survey, 84% of respondents indicated that they received immunization information from a doctor.” (Kimmel, Sanford R., et al.). It should have been a 100% of respondents should have indicated that they received information from a doctor because as a provider it should be a natural habit to always inform patients of vaccines. Health care providers should be also honest when describing the benefits of vaccination while also describing the possibility of vaccinations not working. By being honest and a good listener, health care providers can create special bonds with patients “Primary-care providers play a central role in educating patients and parents on the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines recommended by health authorities and can positively influence the rates of immunization just by answering parents’ questions and addressing common misconceptions. A number of studies have clearly shown that parents consider healthcare workers to be the most important source of information when deciding whether their child should be given a vaccine” (Esposito, S., et al.). When health care providers ask the parents, or the guardian if they have any questions about vaccines or concerns and even their own view of why the child is being vaccinated not only does it create a sense of trust, but it also creates a safe space where everyone’s idea is included allowing the providers voice to also be heard.
Some parents believe that it is best not to vaccinate their kids’ due to personal or religious beliefs. Health care providers should be respectful when listening to parents’ different views on vaccination and politely clear up any misinformation. The common misconception or belief that vaccination is linked to diseases however there is no concrete proof that shows that they are linked together. A study done further disproves the common misconception, “Madsen et al compared the records of more than 400,000 Danish children who received MMR vaccine with those of more than 90,000 unvaccinated children.”’ The investigators did not find any increase in the relative risk for autistic disorder in vaccinated children over that for unvaccinated children.” (Kimmel, Sanford R., et al.). Just like how this study couldn’t find any relation between diseases and vaccines many other studies cannot find any relation either. Even if there was a possibility of getting any disease from vaccinations although there is no concrete evidence for it. The chances of getting ill and death outweigh the chance of getting a disease from the vaccine. It is a common misconception because when autism symptoms and signs are detected in children it is usually the same time when children get their vaccinations, parents are so disheartened when trying to find the cause of autism that they blame the vaccinations. The only way to cope is to find an answer so parents desperately look for an answer.
Vaccinations are a vital need to children and adolescents while most parents would agree some parents believe that by not vaccinating their kids it is actually protecting them. However, by not vaccinating your kid the more they are exposed to virus. There is concrete evidence of decrease in virus outbreaks, deaths caused by viruses, and viruses caught over the years as vaccines have gotten better. A good example of the benefits of vaccinations is in the two data tables. The first table shows almost all the “reduction of cases after vaccine introduction” (Roser, Max) to be an average of 90%, and the second table shows again almost all the “reduction of deaths after vaccine introduction” (Roser, Max) to be an average of 85% which means as vaccine was introduced there were fewer deaths from viruses and fewer cases of people with the virus. By not vaccinating your kid not only are you endangering your kid to deadly viruses but to the chance that your kid can get the virus and pass it around to the rest of the community like the whole school your kid attends. In the Journal it states that “Situations in which a lack of vaccination among a specific population led to widespread disease is what the New York City school district wants to prevent by banning unvaccinated children during the breakout of such diseases.” (The, 2014). This further proves that not vaccinating your kid can only lead to the virus spreading. Why take the risk of having your kid exposed to danger and risking other kids lives? There is always that possibility that a kid can get the virus that would have way worse side effects then getting the vaccinations. Nothing is for sure but if there’s something that can protect you and others from the possibilities of danger why not?
The main cause of these barriers all lead up to the lack of understanding of the health care providers and parents, which highlights the need for educational programs in schools to help the providers and parents understand the importance of vaccinations for children and adolescents. It is also very important that all physicians must take into consideration of the different views on vaccines of parents but also know how to respectfully inform any misinformation. To further minimize the barriers of the national health system, the providers, and parents both providers and parents must educate themselves and help to provide vaccinations to all kids.
