Childhood Vaccination Rates Declined During Pandemic Raising the Risk for Disease Outbreaks

Dr. Chris Scuderi, Vice President for the Florida Academy of Family Physicians discusses how childhood vaccination rates have been on the decline, and nationwide, the number of children with required shots is falling below herd immunity – compromising children’s health and concerning doctors. He talks about how children are still developing their immune systems and the importance of following immunization schedules to prevent disease or boost immunity that may fade over time; how vaccines keep kids in school; how immunizations have successfully eradicated diseases and the importance of herd immunity; the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness against the virus and its variants for children and teens; and how the vaccine dosage and series timeline differ from the adult dosage. 

Dr. Chris Scuderi is a family physician with a focus on community health, including vaccines and immunization. He is a cancer survivor and passionate about cancer screenings and prevention. Dr. Scuderi was commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 2002 as a lieutenant and completed a transitional internship at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia. He currently serves as the vice president for the Florida Academy of Family Physicians and was the former chair of the COVID-19 task force.