Health Systems Well Prepared To Do Routine Immunisations Safely – PAHO

Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Carissa Etienne, says health systems and workers across the region are well prepared to deliver routine immunisations safely.

Speaking during PAHO’s COVID-19 digital briefing on Wednesday (April 28), she added that in most places, childhood vaccines are being administered separately from coronavirus (COVID-19)-related care.

Against this background, Dr. Etienne urges parents to take steps in ensuring that they and their children get inoculated.

Dr. Etienne said health workers in member countries have made extraordinary personal sacrifices and persevered under the most challenging circumstances to safeguard the welfare of citizens.

She noted that during this week, being observed as Vaccination Week in the Americas, they will vaccinate almost 100 million people against preventable diseases, such as measles, influenza and human papillomavirus, and administer nine million doses of COVID-19 vaccines across 31 countries and territories.

The Director pointed out that last year, nearly 500,000 fewer children in the Americas were vaccinated against diseases like diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, adding that more than 300,000 missed their measles vaccinations.

“These trends aren’t new, because, for some years, we’ve seen immunisation coverage decline in our region,” she added.

Dr. Etienne said lockdown measures in countries to curtail COVID-19 spread have been challenging, noting that some parents remain fearful of taking their children to a doctor in light of this.

She pointed out that vaccines are “especially important” for vulnerable populations, adding that expanded COVID-19 vaccinations “will also ensure that our people and economies can begin to reopen, rebuild and recover”.

The Director contended that with the increasing incidence of COVID-19 variants of concern, “timing is critical”.

Consequently, Dr. Etienne said citizens in PAHO member countries “owe it to [our health workers] to do everything that we can to keep ourselves and our communities safe, including by getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and other vaccine-preventable diseases when it’s your turn”.