We cannot but fully endorse the recent call by the Maltese Paediatric Association to make all the vaccinations on the national immunisation schedule mandatory for all children living on Maltese soil.
It is unfathomable how in this day and age some parents have not had their children vaccinated against at least the basics listed on the national immunisation schedule and which come on the state tab free of charge.
We also back the call for any children who have not been vaccinated to not be allowed admittance to child care centres, nurseries and schools so that others are not at risk of spreading the irresponsibility of such misguided parents further, and so because many infants are these day attending nursery before they can be effectively vaccinated.
As matters stand, legislation makes vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus, polio and rubella; but not pertussis (whooping cough), Hib, mumps, measles and hepatitis B, all of which pose serious health risks to children, especially infants.
The came to the fore lately after an outbreak of measles in Europe that led the local health authorities to write to doctors to warn them of the European outbreak and to take precautionary measures to prevent it from spreading further in Malta.
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is one of the most important inoculations for children. It is administered when the child is about 13 months and a booster dose is administered at around three to four years of age. It is as simple as that, once a child has had two vaccinations they are considered to be immune.
And the only way the government could make it easier for parents would be for it to send doctors to people’s home to give children the injection. At childbirth parents are given that green booklet, a ‘guide to your child’s health’ of sorts, which gives new parents step-by-step instructions on when the newborn will have to have his or her inoculations and what injections they will need to have.
Plus, those injections are free of charge at the National Immunisation Centre in Floriana.
As such, there can be two reasons for the folly of not vaccinating your child against MMR – ignorance through neglect or ignorance through misinformation. Frankly, it is difficult to determine which is the worse of the two afflictions.
Starting with the second affliction, there are still, somewhat strangely, a number of oddballs around, and not only in Malta by any stretch of the imagination, who still give credence to that 1998 false MMR report that has been thoroughly discredited and comprehensively debunked.
Moreover, contracting the three diseases for which the vaccine serves to prevent may have serious consequences that could lead to permanent disabilities and even death and any decision against giving the vaccine is most definitely not in children’s best interests.
But, along with the flat-earthers, they are still very present across the social media raging against the vaccine. They are not only a danger to themselves and their loved ones who need vaccinating.
Do not be fooled and do not rely on social media for information. Talk to your doctor if you really have any hang-ups about vaccinating your child. This is your child’s very health at stake, and not some post-truth pick and choose the truth game.