- 98% of babies received their primary set of immunisations at two, three and four months old, including protection against diseases such as whooping cough and Hib meningitis
- over 95% of one year olds received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine
- more than 93% of children had their pre-school booster vaccine
Dr Linda Diggle, Head of Healthcare Programmes, said “Every child deserves a healthy start in life and we’re extremely pleased that the 2013 figures demonstrate how the vast majority of Jersey parents are choosing to protect their children through immunisation.
“We all know how hectic life is as a parent and it would be easy to put off immunisation. It’s also easy to become complacent and to wonder whether immunisations are still as important. The answer is that without continual high levels of immunisation uptake amongst children, we would eventually see diseases re-emerging in the island.
"Three years ago we worked with GPs to make pre-school immunisations as accessible as possible for Jersey parents, and the Public Health team try and help busy working parents by sending them reminders when their children’s vaccines are due. These 2013 statistics show that GP practices have been working very hard and that parents are proactively taking steps to protect their child’s health.”
Dr Diggle stressed that even though immunisation uptake in the island is high, there is no room for complacency. She said “If you have a new baby, immunisations can seem daunting. If parents are at all unsure, we’d encourage them to speak to their GP at the six-week baby check.”
Keeping pace with changing patterns of disease
Further immunisation changes are planned for the future, “It’s a fact of life that the immunisation schedule needs to change periodically to keep pace with changes in the patterns of disease,” Dr Diggle said.
For example, in January of this year, the Rotavirus vaccine was added to the immunisation schedule for young babies and this autumn those going to UK universities for the first time will be advised to have a booster dose of the Meningitis C vaccine.
Dr Diggle said "We’ll be running some publicity nearer the time to remind ‘Freshers’ who are about to start university.”
Parents wishing to know more about the full childhood immunisation schedule can find detailed information on gov.je.
If parents have questions about their child’s immunisations, they can talk to their GP, or may contact Marion Lee, Immunisation Nurse Specialist, on 445790.
gov.je