30 Apr Protect Your Child’s Health and Check their Vaccinations are up to date!

The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) urges parents during the recent World Immunisation Week to ensure their children’s vaccines are up to date.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s vital not to overlook your child’s routine vaccinations.

The global immunisation setback witnessed during the pandemic is very concerning, with a 40% increase in unvaccinated children reported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Vaccination is Australia’s powerful defense against communicable illnesses and the Chief Executive Officer of the ACN, Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward FACN, emphasizes that declining vaccinations may lead to a surge in preventable diseases.

“Australia has run successful vaccination programs since 1932. It is one of our best tools in beating preventative diseases and is easily accessible through primary care facilities where nurses have been leading Australia’s immunisation programs from schools to councils to workplaces to aged care facilities for many years now.

“We have seen several vaccine-preventable diseases, such as measles, rubella and diphtheria become rare illnesses in Australia as a result of our high immunisation rates, and have almost seen the eradication of polio.”

Parents should check-in with  their healthcare professionals, consider the facts and their child’s medical history, and then make informed decisions for their child’s health.

Immunisation is safe and effective, safeguarding your child and the community. Nurses, instrumental in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, are well equipped to address concerns and they have imaginative distraction techniques for needle anxiety should your child be anxious about injections!

Ensure your child’s vaccinations are up to date, and protect their future health.

If you believe you or a family member has missed a vaccine, you can check the National Immunisation Schedule here.