The Grenada government Tuesday expressed concern that the percentage of children receiving childhood vaccines has fallen significantly and is urging parents to help rectify the situation.
Grenada’s Health Minister Nicholas Steele confirmed that the rate of child vaccination has fallen by more than 30 per cent, telling legislators that in the 1990s childhood the vaccination rate was as high as 98 per cent.
“We are in the 60s. We had some challenges during the first year of COVID-19 but now we are stocked” Grenada’s Health Minister Nicholas Steele said in relation childhood vaccines.
Steele said that the reduction did not start with COVID-19 but sometime before due to the misinformation spread on social media.
Grenada’s Public Health (School Children Immunisation) Act requires the immunization of all school children under 13 years of age against communicable diseases. The diseases named in the legislation are Diphtheria; Pertussis (Whooping cough); Tetanus; Measles; Poliomyelitis. However, the law provides for the Minister of health to include or remove diseases.
