World Immunization Week is April 22 – 28

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) normally promotes World Immunization Week at the end of April. The week is dedicated to promoting the use of vaccines to protect people of all ages against diseases and death. Never could we have imagined how important this week would be in 2021.

COVID-19 has ravaged our world with a fury that hasn’t been seen in a hundred years. We will never forget this. We will pass the stories down to our children and grandchildren, who are currently too young to understand everything that was gone through to try and protect as many people as possible. The world is now focusing on the new vaccines to protect against COVID-19 and with good reason. We want our lives back again. The COVID-19 pandemic showed us how quickly new diseases can spread when we have no immunity or vaccine to prevent them. It has been a pretty scary year for all. 

Now that there is hope on the horizon, we must not forget that routine vaccinations need to be completed. Immunization programs were scaled back around the world in 2020 to minimize COVID-19 transmission. Especially important now are the children who did not get their routine immunizations due to the pandemic. This puts them at increased risk for diseases like measles, polio and other vaccine preventable diseases. It’s time to get moving and finally get caught up with those missed vaccinations. 

The fact that misinformation continues to be a problem around the topic of vaccines is an added threat to our world. Trust and confidence are important to maintain and increase vaccine acceptance. Investment in vaccine programs is vitally important to remove access barriers. 

World Immunization Week 2021 will promote greater engagement globally around immunizations and promote the importance of vaccines. Let’s all work together to promote vaccines for people of all ages. Check with your primary care physician and pediatrician to make sure everyone in your family is up to date and if they aren’t, you know what you need to do.  

A Spring Renewal Like Never Before

Winter has helped prolong the torment that COVID has given us. We can’t get out and do the things we would normally do during an ordinary winter, much less a pandemic winter. As people get their vaccinations and cases go down, we anxiously await an end to the misery that has dragged us down into a pit for too long. I don’t know about you, but I’m desperate to be pulled out of that pit.

Sunday, March 14, will officially mark the beginning of Daylight Savings Time in Michigan and our days will get longer with one more hour of light to help remove us from our gloom. Spring will officially begin on Saturday, March 20. A new season with all the hopes and dreams we normally associate with it, but with a little more extra luck needed for this year. Cross your fingers, wear your favorite socks, bring out your four-leaf clovers and do whatever else your culture or religion suggests you can do for good luck. Everyone’s help is needed this year. We all want some good news and to feel hopeful, as we dare to dream about a post-COVID world.

A change in season can also signal to us a needed change in our behavior and what we would like to focus on for the new season. Perhaps taking better care of ourselves by eating healthier and getting outside more for physical activity would be a good start. Maybe it’s time to call our primary care physician and get an appointment for any needed health screenings and the yearly physical we put off in 2020.

Here are some National Health Observance items that alert us to what we can do for our personal health in the month of March:

National Nutrition Month. Most of us could make better food choices and develop sound eating and physical activity habits. Healthy eating and increasing our physical activity are also the two main things a person can do to prevent type 2 diabetes.

https://www.eatright.org/food/resources/national-nutrition-month 

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colorectal cancer is preventable and treatable. Current guidelines recommend screening for colorectal cancer beginning at age 50 (or earlier if certain risks are present.) Colonoscopy continues to be the gold standard for screening. 

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/basic_info/screening/index.htm 

Save Your Vision Month. This is our reminder to get a yearly eye exam from an optometrist. The American Optometric Association recommends eye exams every two years for adults 18-60 and yearly for people 61 and older. 

https://www.allaboutvision.com/eye-exam/ 

National Kidney Month. Our kidneys are important for our health. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading risk factors of kidney disease. Learn more about how you can keep your kidneys healthy at:

https://www.kidney.org/content/national-kidney-month 

Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines such as the ones at the Michigan Quality Improvement Consortium (MQIC) are always a great resource. The aim of the Adult Preventive Services are to recommend to the health care provider appropriate screenings for a specific age group. Talk to your provider about any concerns you have about your health. If they don’t bring up screenings that are appropriate to your age group, bring them up yourself. 

http://www.mqic.org/pdf/mqic_adult_preventive_services_ages_18_to_49_cpg.pdf 

http://www.mqic.org/pdf/mqic_adult_preventive_services_ages_50_to_65plus_cpg.pdf 

The pandemic has caused much pain and played many tricks on us during its seemingly endless grip on our lives. As the trees, plants and flowers start their renewal, let’s look to them for strength and begin ours, too.