‘We have gaps to fill.’ Fresno’s youngest residents are least vaccinated against COVID
When COVID-19 vaccines first became available to the public about a year and a half ago, Fresno County had a hard time keeping up with demand from adults seeking the shots.
But uptake of the various available vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson has been stagnant for the past seven months. And the most recent people eligible for vaccinations – children under 5 years old to as young as 6 months – are well behind the curve.
An estimated 72,649 children in that age group live in Fresno County, according to the California Department of Public Health. As of this week, fewer than 1,240 have gotten even one dose of the multi-dose regimens in the six weeks since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued its recommendations for children ages 6 months through 4 years to be vaccinated.
Previously, county health officials saw at least a modest bump in COVID-19 vaccinations each time a new age group or category of workers became eligible for their shots. That has not been the case among the youngest children, defying the expectations of Joe Prado, the county’s assistant health department director.
“As we look at what’s been going on with the 6-month to 4-year-olds, about 1% of that population have received one dose here in Fresno County,” Prado said last week. “We’re not seeing a huge impact or dent into vaccinating that younger population.”
But vaccination rates are also lagging among school-aged children from 5 to 11 years old, who have been able to get their shots since November 2021. Through July 25, just under 25% are fully vaccinated with two doses, while another 4% have received at least one dose, state health officials report.
By contrast, at the statewide level about 6% of children under 5, and almost 42% of youngsters ages 5 to 11, have received at least one vaccine shot.
With the new school year starting within weeks, “we have a lot of work to do,” Prado said of the county’s coronavirus vaccination efforts among school-age children and teens.
“When we look at our pediatric population that is fully vaccinated, from 0 to 17, approximately 29% of that population is fully vaccinated,” Prado said. That compares to more than 38% statewide who are fully vaccinated in that age range.
Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer with the Fresno County Department of Public Health, agreed that the vaccination rates so far among infants, toddlers and school-age children are disappointing.
“We’ve all lived through and endured all of the disruptions that happen whenever someone in the family or someone at school gets COVID,” Vohra said. “A lot of people have to stay home from school, a lot of sports activities and after-school activities have to be canceled or postponed, and all of that can be avoided if we get more people vaccinated, including kids.”
Getting children their coronavirus shots – and other required childhood vaccinations required for school – “is one less thing (parents) have to worry about during the school year, and you’ll be able to protect them,” he added.
“There’s a lot of other vaccines that are going to be required as kids start school, and we know that a lot of families need to play catch-up” because of the pandemic, Vohra said. “We have gaps to fill there as well.”
Of almost 260,000 laboratory-confirmed coronavirus cases in Fresno County over the past 28 months, about 24,500 have occurred among children under the age of 10, according to county health officials estimate. Almost 37,000 more cases came within the 10- to 19-year-old age group.
