This week, to celebrate World Vaccination Week, Dr Jillian Johnston, Consultant in Health Protection at the PHA, explains why vaccines are so important, and even more so during the current COVID-19 pandemic. To view our complete series of COVID-19 blogs, click here.
Vaccines prevent the spread of infectious, dangerous, and life threatening diseases. They save millions of lives per year, and are well recognised as being one of the most successful public health interventions in the world. The current COVID-19 pandemic has brought much of our human activity to a standstill. People may be uncertain about what services remain safely in place, and what appointments they can, or should, still attend.
On April 17, the Department of Health issued a letter to health and social care to emphasise the importance of maintaining the immunisation programmes as a key priority to protect public health from other preventable infections at this time and in the future. The national immunisation programmes are highly successful in reducing the incidence of serious and sometimes life-threatening diseases. It is important to maintain the best possible vaccine uptake to prevent a resurgence of these infections.
In Northern Ireland, the routine vaccination programme covers sixteen important infectious diseases. This includes measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, meningococcal infection, and many more. The programme has been informed by an independent expert committee known as the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, or JCVI. The committee make recommendations to the government on vaccine preventable conditions, and vaccine safety. They take account of the need for, and impact of vaccines, ensuring the greatest benefit to the public can be achieved from the most appropriate use of vaccines.
High rates of uptake of a vaccine are essential to stopping the spread of infectious disease. If we stopped vaccinating, these diseases would start coming back into our communities. Outbreaks will lead to illness, and threaten lives; a stark reality we have experienced during the current COVID-19 outbreak. This is especially the case for those who are more vulnerable due to their age or other health conditions.
Thankfully, many of the diseases we can vaccinate against are now uncommon in Northern Ireland. This is due to the high number of people vaccinated, and success of our current vaccination programme. Unfortunately, this does not mean that these diseases have been successfully eliminated. Many remain endemic across the world, and if an unvaccinated person becomes exposed to it, they risk being infected. The only way to keep infection rates low, and avoid spread, is to keep vaccinating.
Our vaccination programme in Northern Ireland is delivered by a range of professionals, from primary care teams, and health visitors, to school nurses and other nursing teams. The COVID-19 pandemic has had implications for the delivery of many routine services.
As vaccines may be lifesaving, continuing to provide these remains an important priority. This is essential to preventing the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in Northern Ireland, which would result in higher numbers of people needing our health services. Your GP will continue to offer appointments for these vaccines, and the best way to protect you and your family, is to attend if you have been offered an appointment. If you have concerns regarding COVID-19, including recent illness in yourself or a household member, please contact your GP for advice, and reschedule your appointment if necessary.
For more information, please visit pha.site/immunisation-vaccines
To view our complete series of COVID-19 blogs, click here.