“As of July 2022, ADPH does not have any open investigations for polio cases,” said Wes Stubblefield, a district medical officer at ADPH. “We currently have no cases and have had no cases of polio. All investigations were opened because of labs submitted by facilities that tested patients for immunity to polio.”While state law bans schools from requiring vaccines, this school year will be the first when all school-aged students are eligible for immunization.
Children as young as 6 months old became eligible for COVID-19 vaccines from both Pfizer and Moderna in June, but the state has one of the lowest pediatric vaccination rates in the country. Less than 1% of children under 4 are vaccinated while 14% of 5 to 11-year-olds and 36% of 12 to 17-year-olds have received the vaccine. Alabama is currently reporting a 30% positivity rate -- lower than at the beginning of last school year when the delta variant was surging, but higher than in recent months.
ADPH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend COVID-19 vaccine for everyone 6 months and older and boosters for everyone 5 years and older. Vaccines for all eligible ages are available at county health departments, pharmacies and at pediatrician offices. “We’re close to the goal line, but to get the ball over the goal line now is more than ever a team effort,” said Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of UAB and Children’s of Alabama’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, during a June press conference. “It’s going to appropriately require parents to step in and say that we want [the vaccine] and that’s what I’m asking parents to do.”