By Mrinalika Roy

(Reuters) – Child vaccination rates fell in America during the COVID-19 epidemic. Many children missed doctor appointments, and remote learning allowed states to relax vaccine requirements. According to a Thursday government study.

During the 2020–21 school year, vaccination coverage among kindergartners nationwide for three required vaccines was approximately 1% lower than the previous school year, according to the study conducted by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the authors of the study, “As schools go back to learning in person, it is essential to ensure that students are protected from vaccine-preventable disease.”

Three vaccines are most commonly covered by the MMR vaccine, to prevent rubella, measles, and rubella. DTaP is used to prevent diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pneumonia. Varicella shot, for chickenpox, was also examined.

According to the CDC, coverage for all three vaccines fell in the majority of states to 94%. This is just below the 95% target.

“This might not sound like much,” Georgina Peacock, acting director of CDC’s Immunization Services Division told reporters on a call. “But it amounts to at least 35,000 more children across the United States that entered kindergarten without documentation of complete vaccination against common diseases like measles, whooping cough, and chickenpox.”

The study included data collected for the 2020–21 school year by state and local immunization programs in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

The authors of the study noted limitations in their data. These included variations in vaccine requirements, documentation processes and non-inclusions from three states. They also pointed out barriers that were created by the pandemic such as virtual learning and the shift towards virtual learning.