(WXYZ) — Michigan public health leaders will discuss the importance of catching your kids up on vaccines Thursday, just a few weeks before the school year is set to start.
Childhood vaccination rates are at their lowest since 2011 in the state. In eight Michigan counties and the City of Detroit, vaccination rates have dropped below 60% according to the Michigan Care Improvement Registry.
The press conference will be led by MDHHS Chief Medical Executive Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian as well as other health officials.
They are concerned about how few children are getting vaccinated, and the urgency is intensifying before the start of school.
"I'd go a whole 12-hour shift without seeing any. And then the last, you know, one to two weeks, we see three, four, five, six COVID-positive cases coming in," Dr. Sindhu Aderson, the regional medical director for Northwestern Immediate Care Central.
Chicago has experienced a 4% spike in cases in the last week, and Dr. Dennis Cunningham predicts Michigan could be next.
"I do think it will come here, probably not for a couple of weeks," Cunningham said.
The concerns over low child vaccination rates are also outreaching COVID, with the threat of measles, whooping cough and chicken pox making a comeback.
"We're below what we call herd immunity. Herd immunity means there are enough people protected that even if it was a case there is not enough people who would get it to keep it going on and on," one health expert told us.
The press conference will happen at 10 a.m. and WXYZ plans to stream it live.
Right now, less than 70% of children aged 19-36 months have received all of their recommended shots, and only 19% of people are up-to-date on COVID-19 boosters.
