Barbados improves vaccine coverage but falls short of target

Vaccination coverage for the primary school aged children has improved tremendously in Barbados despite the Ministry of Health having indicated that the current coverage is below the 95% benchmark.

The data for 2023 indicates a slight improvement of the vaccination rates, although the problem of obtaining the best coverage remains an urgent one.

The immunization figures on Diphtheria tetanus toxoid and pertussis (DTP3) and Polio had respectively reached 85% as state, this was according to the Ministry.

The immunization level of the first dose of the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR1) was 90% while that of the second MMR2 was 76%.

These indicates an improvement compared to the last couple of years, especially concerning MMR coverage which has been raised compared to the rates of 2021-2022.

Nonetheless, DTP3 is in line with the level observed last year majority of polio 3 is slightly lower than 2022, and therefore the trend though positive, needs more improvement.

The Health Ministry, Barbados has, however, said that accomplishments in the targeted goal revealed that the vaccine coverage is still below the 95% for the primary vaccine. Health bureaus have stressed that it is important to reach this goal so that no child in the island is at risk of having a vaccine preventable disease.

There is still some progress observed in vaccinated population, but it still needs more efforts to enhance that gap. There have been consistent reports of parents coming in with children which has led to consistent immunization amongst the children.

Admission arrangements like the improvement of clinic operation time from weekdays to Saturdays, for instance, have been instituted in order to balance with parents who could not have brought their children for check-up during business hours.

This has been effective in enlisting the child who might have possibly never taken the previous vaccinations and therefore keep them on correct immunization schedules.

On realizing that Mondays are vaccination days, children from between two months to five years have continually been turning up at the Edgar Cochrane Polyclinic.

Other children comprising school or Common Entrance Examination candidates and those preparing for the same examinations, have been observed to still come to clinics for vaccinations to be administered on them showing that parents are still keen on their children’s health.

However, as the data point up, the Ministry of Health still calls on all parents to get their children fully vaccinated, particularly focusing towards the 95% coverage target.

This underlined the officials’ keen interest in furthering the island population’s vaccination accessibility, pointing at the clinics where it is possible to get a vaccine, as well as the overall responsibility of the community members for their actions in this context.

Therefore, this study has evidenced that while Barbados recently increased its vaccine rates of coverage among the countries’ primary school age children, it is still a work in progress.