The World Health Organization claims that there has been a surge in vaccine-preventable diseases over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the rise in measles cases across the globe.
They claim that this is because there has been a stark drop in measles vaccinations in children, which it warns puts people at risk of contracting the disease and creating an outbreak.
As a response to this, the Department of Health is urging parents to take their children to be vaccinated as chief director for child health programme, Dr Lesley Bamford, states that there needs to be a 95% full vaccination rate to be confident that there will be no outbreak or rise in cases.
Bamford goes on to say that during hard lockdown, when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its worse, there was a steep decline in vaccination coverage rates across the country but that these rates have mostly returned to normal recently.
However, he warns that parents continue to get their children vaccinated to prevent any long-term damage as data shows that not all of the country is on the same page.
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Artmotion S.Africa
