It’s been back to school for a few weeks now and children and parents are settling into the routines of spelling tests and endless searching for gym kit. But there is something else to think about in these first few weeks and that’s vaccinations.

We know that when children and young people go back to school or college and are mixing with larger social groups, there is more chance of infections spreading. Every primary school teacher can tell you about the coughs and colds they bring back at the start of a new term. With measles in particular being really infectious, checking your children have had their vaccinations is really important and if there’s any that have been missed, right now is a great time to catch up.

Thankfully Calderdale has not seen the levels of measles some other council areas have. Every family in the area who takes up the childhood vaccinations on offer is playing their part in reducing the risk of outbreaks of measles in our communities, with all the risks and inconvenience that comes from that.

Although we are doing reasonably well, measles vaccination levels have still fallen to around 90% and for a whole community to be protected it needs to be up to 95%.

placeholder image — Importance of Vaccination

Younger parents might not be as aware of the dangers of measles because it had almost been eradicated. Measles, being the most infectious disease, is seen as the ‘canary in the coalmine’ and a wake-up call that urgent action is needed to stop the very real risk of other diseases re-emerging if vaccination levels fall.

Across the country almost 1 in 5 children starting primary school are not protected by vaccinations. Pre-school children should have had the 4 in 1 jab: polio, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria. I am old enough to remember the television pictures of full hospital wards with children in iron lung machines and those with wasted limbs being fitted with caliper leg braces to help them walk. We do not want to see that again.

And the new chickenpox jab is available from next January on the NHS. It was only available privately and I bet well-off parents were keen to take it up. Chickenpox can be mild but for some it can be serious and lead to hospital admissions. Germany, Canada and the US have all cut hospital admissions with this jab.

I know that, partly due to the difficult Covid times, vaccinations have somehow become controversial, or even political, in some circles. What nonsense. Those who are scaremongering and casting doubt on our NHS are doing a disservice to our children and our wider community.

Weneed children starting primary school to be fully protected and given the best opportunity to thrive at school. We know that most parents want to do what is best for their children. We also we get that it can be hard juggling busy lives and work, finding time to book and get to the GP appointments, but this is important..

I ask all parents to do the right thing, check the jabs are up to date, and help to keep kids in school, protect the whole community and maybe even save some lives.