Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2021 Nov 25;17:e71. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2021.338.
Routine childhood vaccination and well-child visits are essential for pediatric patients' preventative and public healthcare services. The COVID-19 pandemic had an immediate and significant decline in well-child visits and vaccine administration. A one-of-a-kind 'Drive-Through Vaccine Clinic' was established to improve the vaccination rate and alleviate parental anxiety about being exposed to COVID-19 infection.
Our initial focus was on children between 18 months - 4 years of age at the start of the pandemic, and then extended this to the back-to-school vaccines and the Influenza vaccines.
The Drive-Through Immunization Station provided 745 vaccines to 415 patients between April and September, 2020. The median wait time involved from patient arrival to completion of vaccine administration was 5 minutes at the Drive-Through location. Patient and parent feedback was positive. The addition of the Drive-Through Clinic helped to significantly increase the total number of vaccines administered compared to the previous year.
In a global pandemic, innovative ideas to increase access to preventive healthcare should be a priority. In the future, this method of non-traditional vaccine administration, will allow for improved outreach efforts to underserved populations in our communities, and better disaster preparedness.
儿童常规免疫接种和定期健康检查对于儿科患者的预防和公共卫生保健服务至关重要。COVID-19 大流行导致定期健康检查和疫苗接种数量立即显著下降。为了提高疫苗接种率并减轻父母对感染 COVID-19 的担忧，建立了一种独特的“免下车疫苗接种诊所”。
我们最初的重点是在大流行开始时为 18 个月至 4 岁的儿童接种疫苗，然后将其扩展到返校疫苗和流感疫苗。
2020 年 4 月至 9 月，免下车免疫接种站为 415 名患者接种了 745 剂疫苗。从患者到达至疫苗接种完成的中位等待时间为 5 分钟。患者和家长的反馈是积极的。与前一年相比，免下车诊所的设立大大增加了接种疫苗的总数。
在全球大流行期间，增加获得预防保健的创新理念应是当务之急。在未来，这种非传统疫苗接种管理方法将有助于改善我们社区中服务不足人群的外联工作，并为灾害做好更好的准备。
