HJAR Jul/Aug 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS  I  JUL / AUG 2020 41 immunization levels to 90 percent by 1979, and 2) establish mechanisms to maintain high immunization levels by ensuring that children receive these immunizations at the recommend times. By the fall of 1980, this initiative resulted in a high immunization rate among children entering school, including rates of 96 percent for measles, and 92 percent for poliomyelitis. 4 Over the years, these efforts have been difficult to maintain. In 2013, Arkansas’ annual vaccination rates for childhood immunizations had declined to 57.1 percent for children 19-35 months of age, who had completed the recommended immunization series 5 for children their age. That year, Arkansas was ranked last among the 50 states for the childhood immunization series. Since then, the efforts of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH), Immunize AR (the state Jennifer A. Dillaha, MD State Epidemiologist Arkansas Department of Health of vaccine-preventable diseases, in particular, measles. Similar to the trends in the decline of vaccination observed in the United States, global vaccination efforts have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In England, measles-mumps-rubella vaccination rates fell by 19.8 percent after the introduction of physical distancing measures were employed for COVID-19 control (95 percent confidence interval: -20.7 to -18.9), compared to the same period in 2019. Vaccination rates improved after messaging encouraging vaccination was put in place. 2 Vaccination efforts against polio, and by extension, its eradication, have been markedly disturbed. In March of this year, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) recommended suspension of polio vaccination campaigns to help stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2. The GPEI called on all countries to postpone both mass vaccination campaigns, and targeted vaccination against poliovirus underway until at least the latter half of this year. That same month, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Strategic Advisory also recommended that all preventive mass vaccination campaigns against measles and yellow fever be temporarily suspended. The WHO estimates that more than 117 million children in 37 countries may miss out on a measles vaccine 3 . As a state, Arkansas possesses an enduring legacy in the world of childhood immunizations.Thislegacywasirrevocably established in the 1970s by our former First Lady of Arkansas, Betty Bumpers, who collaborated with then First Lady of Georgia, Rosalynn Carter. Their continued collaboration led to the formation of a nationwide Childhood Immunization Initiative with two objectives: 1) increase