NORFOLK, Va. – Nicole Sperry is turning her grief into action. The Suffolk mother lost her only daughter Teresa to COVID-19 in September 2021, right before the shot for the 10-year old was available.
Since Teresa’s death, her parents have been encouraging parents to vaccinate their children.
Now, Sperry is teaming up with Vaccinate Your Family and shining a light on the COVID vaccine and others including the flu shot.
In some cases, the flu could lead to hospitalization and even death.
“I don’t want any other families to have to deal with what our family has had to deal with, and it's not just our family that’s had to deal with it,” Sperry said.
The push comes as state health officials in Virginia say the number of child vaccinations against the illness is lower than it was in previous years.
According to the Department of Health, 28% of children from birth to age four got their flu vaccine this season, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 26. That number drops to 25% in kids aged 5 to 11. The total number decreases again to 22% for 12 to 17-year olds.
Data from VDH’s dashboard shows last week alone, 21.7% of those seeking care for flu-like illnesses are kids younger than 5 years old.
Just this week, state health officials revealed the first reported flu death of a child this season.
Sperry worries a lot of vaccine-hesitation has to do with misinformation.
“It’s so much worry about the possible side effects instead of thinking about what could ultimately happen with being in the hospital, in the PICU, in the ICU, and those are images that you will never be able to take back,” said Sperry. “They're going to be engrained in your memory.”
Doctors are urging everyone six months and older who is healthy to get a yearly flu shot. That say it’s not too late.
As for RSV, there is no vaccine yet for that respiratory virus.
Additionally, VDH does not track individual RSV or flu cases. VDH does track the number of flu outbreaks statewide but not RSV.
