300,000 more people to offered measles catch up vaccine
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More than 300,000 people are to be offered a measles catch-up vaccine under plans being drawn up by the health minister.
Stephen Donnelly is expected to tell his Cabinet colleagues on Tuesday that a catch-up programme will be rolled out because of the public health threat from measles.
While there has still only been one confirmed case of measles here so far this year, there continues to be an increase in cases in the UK and across Europe.
A catch-up programme for children up to the age of 10 has been in place since November, while the second MMR vaccine was brought forward to the first term of the school year to boost the protection of children.
Now, Stephen Donnelly will tell Cabinet colleagues that an additional 310,000 people could be eligible for an extended catch-up programme.
A health source say it would involve an intensive campaign over 12-13 weeks delivering vaccination to a range of groups, including:
- Children (routine and catch-up);
- Young people up to age 24 years;
- Healthcare workers;
- "Under-served" populations, such as Travellers, Roma, people who are homeless, refugees, and applicants seeking protection and other vulnerable migrants, and those in custodial settings.
"The next priority group would be those aged 25 to 34, and then also offering of vaccination to those born after 1978," the source said.
"Those born in Ireland before 1978 are likely to have immunity to measles."
Immunisation is expected to be delivered in the main by GPs and Occupational Health. HSE Immunisation Teams may also be utilised.
It is extimated that there will be expenditure of €4.6m for this extended MMR catch-up programme and to ramp up a measles testing pathway.
Last month, the World Health Organization warned that more than half of the world’s countries will be at high or very high risk of measles outbreaks by the end of the year unless urgent preventative measures are taken.
Measles cases have been increasing across most regions mainly due to missed vaccinations during the covid years when health systems were overwhelmed and fell behind on routine vaccinations for preventable diseases.