Barbados has a low immunisation rate making thousands of residents susceptible to many vaccine-preventable diseases, says senior health sister Hazel Forde.
She said this was a major concern, especially in the wake of the island hosting the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup in June, which is expected to attract more than 20 000 visitors to the island.
She was speaking to Barbados TODAY on Saturday during a health fair and exhibition organised by the Ministry of Health, held at Massy Supermarket in Warrens.
“Herd immunity means that enough people are vaccinated to protect the unvaccinated and the vulnerable — the ones that could not be vaccinated for one reason or another, either because of their age or because of their immune system. For that to occur, you need 95 per cent coverage for most diseases. And based on our current coverage, we are in the high 80s.
“So, we are facing challenges with low immunisation coverage, which means that we are susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough, things that we thought were gone a long time ago; and they are re-emerging in our tourism source markets — the United States, Canada and Europe. We have the World Cup coming up and we are going to have a lot more tourists, so there is increased risk,” she said, adding that the Ministry of Health was putting measures in place, such as the health fair, to help stave off those vaccine preventable diseases.
At the health fair, interested people also got the opportunity to get their blood sugar and pressure taken and blood work done to test cholesterol levels and kidney and liver health. (Photo by Sheria Brathwaite)
Forde explained that since the advent of COVID-19 there was a surge in the anti-vaccination movement and this was the main reason the island’s immunisation rate was low.
“During COVID-19, we did have a lot of anti-vaccine sentiment and that has transferred from the COVID-19 vaccine to vaccines in general and the childhood vaccines. The anti vaxxers are much more prominent.
They are very vocal, and people, before looking into all the facts, are hooking on to their words. Plus, there’s a lot of distrust as well for health care, so that has contributed to the low coverage.”
At the health fair, there were several adult vaccines on offer such as hepatitis B and the flu shot. All of the children’s vaccines were also available such as measles, mumps and rubella, tetanus and polio.
Interested people also got the opportunity to get their blood sugar and pressure taken and blood work done to test cholesterol levels and kidney and liver health.
There was also a sexual education and reproductive system booth, where men and women got the opportunity to learn more about their reproductive organs and how to practise safe sex. (SZB)
