Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Students Fall Behind on “Routine-but-Critical” Vaccinations

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/16/21

A news release from the Learning First Alliance suggests that one in five children missed receiving routine vaccines during the pandemic. This lapse could not only cause students to be ineligible to return to school in-person this fall, but it could lead to the loss of herd immunity against long-eradicated diseases like measles, polio and whooping cough.

A recent Blue Cross Blue Shield Survey reveals that 40 percent of parents say that their children have missed at least one vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic. The routine vaccines against 16 serious diseases are intended both to keep the vaccinated individual safe as well as prevent an individual from passing the disease along to fellow students, teachers, staff and the community at large.

“We know that caregivers are stressed, and many have delayed doctor’s appointments or opted for telehealth appointments during the pandemic,” said Richard M. Long, Learning First Alliance executive director. “Childhood and adolescent vaccination rates in the United States have declined at an alarming rate as a result of missed appointments.”

The Learning First Alliance (LFA) has launched a new website and a public information campaign, “The Power to Protect,” to educate parents and guardians on the importance of these routine shots. It also provides information on how to receive the shots free of charge as necessary. According to a news release, LFA is a coalition of 12 national education groups that represents 10 million parents, teachers, support staff, principals, superintendents, school board members, and teacher educators.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded its emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents ages 12–15. Likewise, updated guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allows the COVID-19 vaccine to be given at the same time as other routine vaccines. The COVID-19 vaccine is still optional but highly recommended.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Arlington High School

    Arlington High School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Arlington High School has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.

  • Higher Ed is Betting on New Buildings While Quietly Undermining Their Campuses — Here’s Why

    In this climate, the owner’s representative has changed from a delivery-focused advisor to a strategic campus partner. Institutions are increasingly relying on owner’s reps not just to manage, cope, schedule, and budget, but also help evaluate whether a project should proceed at all.

  • Designing for Every Mind

    Learning environments have the power to shape not just what students know, but who they become. When a school is designed with genuine empathy—for the full range of ways students think, sense, and engage with the world—it becomes more than a building. It becomes a catalyst for growth, confidence, and belonging. That is the animating idea behind neurodiverse design, and it is one that is transforming how more architects and designers are thinking about school design.