The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

VACCINATION rates among children in The Bahamas continued to fall short of pre-pandemic levels in 2023, the last year for which data is available.

Health officials said vaccination rates in 2023 show coverage hovering between 86 and 87 percent, while pre-pandemic rates were around 90 percent.

The national goal is to achieve 95 percent coverage against vaccine-preventable diseases.

Gina Rose, National Coordinator of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), said the 2023 statistics show that more children have missed their immunisations, largely because some young parents are opting not to vaccinate their babies.

She said the delay in releasing 2024 data is due to the extensive process of verifying birth records, tracking the current status of children, and calculating actual coverage. “That data will not be finalised until April at the latest,” she noted.

In July 2023, a representative from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that The Bahamas is at risk for reintroducing polio and other diseases due to childhood immunisation rates falling far below the 95 percent target.

In 2023, the coverage rate for the first dose of the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) was 86 åpercent. “So we need at least ten percent of those children we have to find in order to bring that number up to 95 percent or greater,” said Ms Rose.

Coverage for the Polio and DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus) vaccines stood at 87 percent in 2023.

“If we look at pre-pandemic, the numbers were already on a slow decline worldwide, but they weren’t so far down,” Ms Rose explained. “So we were still hovering like between 89 and 90 percent and then the pandemic hit.”

She reported that between 2020 and 2021, vaccination coverage saw significant drops. In 2020, the lowest coverage for DPT and Polio fell to around 82 percent, while MMR coverage was 86.7 percent. By 2021, MMR coverage declined further to 82.4 percent.

Dr Philip Swann, former acting Chief Medical Officer, noted in 2021 that the COVID-19 pandemic affected vaccine uptake in two key ways: reduced access to vaccines during lockdowns and increased hesitancy due to public debates surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ms Rose agrees, noting that many parents are now questioning vaccine safety and suspecting that the COVID-19 vaccine has been added to routine childhood immunisations.

“There are some persons who are opting not to vaccinate their children,” she said. “The problem with that is the less people who take the vaccine means that you have a lot more people who are vulnerable to contracting the disease.”

She pointed out that measles cases have recently been reported in Florida, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

She noted that these are countries with strong travel ties to The Bahamas, both for Bahamians travelling abroad and tourists visiting here. She stressed that if an infected person arrives, unvaccinated children will be at the greatest risk.

“We have to get the message out there that the vaccines have not changed,” she said. “They are the same as they were when they were produced years ago.”

“People argue that we don’t see cases of certain diseases, but that’s because the vaccines work and protected us from certain diseases.”

To combat declining vaccination rates, the Expanded Programme on Immunisation will seek to increase education and improve access to vaccines.

Ms Rose said the unit has been targeting preschools and nurseries since last year.

They have been visiting schools to check immunisation cards. For those children who are not immunised, the parents are contacted. She said some sign consent forms for vaccination at the school, while others choose to visit private physicians for immunisations.

She said private physicians and NHI doctors participating in the Ministry of Health’s immunisation programme are provided with vaccines and must report the number of children vaccinated.

“They don’t give personal information or name, but they give the numbers, which is what we crunch at the end of the day. The official numbers will be ready by April,” she said.

Ms Rose urged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated, stressing that the vaccines are safe and effective.

“If you don’t have a private physician, please take your baby to the government clinics where vaccines are free of charge. Get them vaccinated and protected,” she said.