‘Those are tried and true, proven and researched guidelines.’ Local health specialists encourage childhood vaccinations
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IDAHO FALLS — Local health specialists have come together with the goal of encouraging parents with unvaccinated children to vaccinate their kids.
Josh Smith, a pediatric endocrinologist at Rocky Mountain Diabetes in Idaho Falls, along with local clinics such as The Pediatric Center, Idaho Falls Pediatrics and Just 4 Kids Health, are hoping to see an increase in childhood vaccination rates.
“It’s super important that kids in general get vaccinated because we don’t want to go back to 60, 70, 80 years ago when we were dealing with these terrible diseases and kids were dying,” Smith said.
Smith pointed out that right now, one of the big concerns when it comes to diseases is measles.
“Utah is a hotbed for measles right now. … They are so close (to Idaho), and we know that vaccinations have gone down here as well,” Smith stated. “There have been measles cases here recently in the area, but they get contained pretty well. But, (measles) can be devastating to these kids who are not vaccinated. And the same with other diseases.”
Smith said that he and these clinics recognize that, since COVID hit in 2019, public trust in government entities and healthcare providers has diminished.
“Since COVID, a lot of doctors and the patient-relationship have been strained because of going through a pandemic with a new pathogen that we didn’t know a lot about,” Smith explained. “That was like science in real-time. You were getting scientists together, trying to figure out what the truth is and what is not. Then you have the internet that blew a lot of stuff out of proportion. And you had political leaders who were carrying on about certain treatments that were completely not true.”
He stated there was a lot of “misinformation and disinformation” during the pandemic when what was needed was to try to stick with the science.
“Over time, we’ve been able to do more trials and see what has worked and what hasn’t. But going through that process in the public, that was rough on everybody,” he said.
Smith said they want people to know they trust the science behind childhood vaccines and that they can trust their pediatrician.
“Right now, most pediatricians in town are doing the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines (vaccine schedule), which have been the standard for 100 years, kind of thing,” he stated. “Those are tried and true, proven and researched guidelines. There’s no reason why we should abandon those.”
He wants parents to know they “put the health of children first, without ulterior motives or financial gain.”
“Pediatricians don’t make any money on vaccines,” Smith stated. “They may charge them for an administration fee, or something like that, which is covered by their insurance, but they don’t make millions upon millions of dollars or anything like that on vaccines.”
A joint immunization clinic between Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and Eastern Idaho Public Health will take place on April 11, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the North Idaho Falls Emergency Room, located at 1762 Pickering Street in Idaho Falls.
Parents can call (208) 522-0310 to schedule an appointment, check their child’s immunization status, or ask other vaccination questions.