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NAJ President Patsy Edwards Henry
By Kimone Witter
Public Health Nurses have reportedly indicated that by the end of March next year, the country should see a significant increase in immunisation rates in Jamaica.
Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) President Patsy Edwards Henry says she was given this assurance after speaking with public health specialists on Monday morning.
Director of Family Health Services in the Ministry of Health Dr. Melody Ennis told Radio Jamaica News that there has been a falloff in the rate of vaccination in the Americas, and Jamaica has not been spared.
Dr. Ennis said the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the decline.
Mrs Edwards Henry, who is not surprised by the falloff in childhood immunisation, admitted there are a number of issues which have resulted in the decline.
This includes the redistribution of staff to COVID-19 sites and the downsizing of services offered at health centres during the height of the pandemic.
She also cited the "fear factor" associated with vaccines, which led to parents not taking their children to health centres.
Additionally, Mrs Edwards Henry noted that health workers were no longer going into communities because "a number of persons didn’t want this happening", again, due to fear.
But the NAJ president said she is not overly concerned, as efforts to boost immunisation numbers have been under way for the last two months.
She said registered and public health nurses, midwives as well as community health aides have been doing "mop-up" since October, so "a number of the fallouts are being picked up and the expanded programme for immunisation is alive and well".
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