Celebrating World Immunization Week: Why vaccinations are essential

Helen Sisson is a lecturer in public health within the Department of Midwifery and Child Health on the Faculty of Health Sciences on the University of Hull. He’s currently completing his PhD research examining the timeliness of vaccinations in premature infants. @hsisson1

April 24^vol – thirty^vol 2021 is World Immunization Week¹, and this yr provides much more reason to watch and have a good time this essential public health achievement. Vaccination has long been an important public health activity world wide, but the present Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted just how critical it’s; serves as a reminder of the devastating impact that disease can have. COVID-19 continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, and vaccination is seen as a needed response to this problem.

Public awareness about vaccinations and vaccinations is currently high, which is undoubtedly influenced by media reports. Every day updates on vaccine numbers are being provided, and from the twenty eighth^vol In March this yr, the very best vaccination rate against Covid-19 within the UK was 49%. This value was much higher than within the EU, where rates are reported at 12-14%.².

This has sparked a debate over vaccine supply and concerns concerning the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine. Particularly, the suggestion of a really low risk of thrombosis after vaccination with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. These concerns are currently being investigated and the European Medicines Agency indicates that the variety of thromboembolic events in people receiving the vaccine is not any higher than seen in the overall population^3. Nonetheless, this has led to the temporary suspension of using this vaccine in some countries⁴. Although this doesn’t appear to have had a major impact on uptake within the UK, uptake is low in some groups, corresponding to black, Asian and minority ethnic people⁵. Not directly, the pandemic had a positive impact on the uptake of influenza vaccines. Data from England for over-65s shows an almost 10% increase in flu vaccinations in 20/21 in comparison with 19/20⁶. Similarly, data from the US show a 7% increase within the variety of vaccines and the willingness to get vaccinated⁷.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the introduction of vaccination programs appear to have increased understanding of the worth and advantages of vaccination. Nonetheless, there are concerns about Covid-19 vaccines that should not unique. The incidence of all vaccine-preventable diseases must remain low, and for vaccinations to be simplest, uptake must remain high. For instance, to realize population (or herd) immunity for measles, a goal of 95% is required.⁸.

The devastating reality of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions on society can have motivated many individuals to get vaccinated. Nurses and other healthcare employees proceed to have a key impact on vaccine uptake – not only for Covid-19, but for all vaccines. People view a nurse or health care skilled as probably the most reliable and trusted source of vaccination information⁹. This highlights two essential actions on the a part of nurses: first, that they need up-to-date, evidence-based details about vaccinations, and second, that each one opportunities are being pursued to advertise (and even administer) vaccinations¹⁰.

Nurses and healthcare employees also need to know what drives vaccination decisions and vaccine hesitancy. In its report on vaccine hesitancy, the World Health Organization developed a model based on the “3Cs” – complacency, confidence and convenience¹¹. Complacency may occur when it’s believed that vaccination is unnecessary (that the disease is just not severe or that the danger to the person is low). Trust might be considered when it comes to trust – trust in vaccines, within the health service and health care employees, and within the broader systems behind vaccine policymaking. Convenience may seek advice from ease of access to vaccines and should be related to physical access or affordability and understanding.

For nurses and healthcare employees to handle the 3Cs, clinical and epidemiological knowledge of the disease is required. Moreover, it is crucial to construct trust when talking about vaccines, be confident and use positive language; again, such features are only possible with current and accurate vaccine knowledge. Convenience could also be tougher to handle as challenges may arise from services and ways of working. Nonetheless, every opportunity must be taken to examine vaccination status and initiate individually tailored conversations to recommend vaccination. Nurses and healthcare professionals play a key role in supporting decision-making and helping you understand the advantages and risks of every decision.

The theme of World Immunization Week is: “Vaccines bring us closer.” While we proceed to witness the devastating impact of Covid-19, we’re also seeing the impact that vaccinations are having in easing restrictions and allowing families and friends to reconnect. We’ll proceed to give attention to Covid-19 vaccines to guard people, but we must not forget that routine vaccinations are also essential. They’re essential in stopping many infectious diseases and ensuring the long run health and well-being of our communities. Nurses are ideally placed on the forefront of healthcare providers because they’ll provide evidence-based information to assist inform decisions about vaccinations and immunizations. They should have the needed skills and knowledge to have the option to do that effectively.

Bibliography:

1. World Health Organization (WHO) (2021) World Immunization Week – Vaccines bring us closer. Downloaded from World Immunization Week 2021 – Vaccines bring us closer (who.int)
2. Statista (2021) Variety of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in Europe as of 28^vol March 2021, by country. Downloaded from Europe: Covid-19 vaccination rate by country in 2021 | Extra
3. European Medicines Agency (2021) COVID-19 Vaccien AstraZeneca – Update on the continued assessment of blood clot cases. Downloaded from AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine – Update on ongoing assessment of blood clot cases | European Medicines Agency (europa.eu)
4. Smart, J. (2021) Covid-19: European countries suspend use of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of blood clots. British medical journal 372:n699. Downloaded from doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n699
5. Royal Society of Public Health (2020) Public attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Downloaded from RSPH | Society’s attitude towards the Covid-19 vaccine
6. Public Health England (2021) Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake amongst GPs: monthly data, 2020-2021. Downloaded from Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake amongst primary care patients: monthly data, 2020-2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
7. Lindley, M.C., Srivastav, A., Hendrich, M., Fisun, H., Nguyen, K., Pedraza, O., Razzaghi, H., Singleton, J.A. and Williams, W.W. (2020) Early Season Influenza Vaccination Uptake and Intent Amongst Adults – United States, September 2020. Source Early Season Influenza Vaccine Uptake and Intention amongst Adults – United States, September 2020 | FluVaxView | Seasonal flu (flu) | CDC
8. GAVI (2020) Support for measles and measles-rubella vaccines. Downloaded from Measles and rubella vaccine support (gavi.org)
9. Public Health England (2019) PHE offers support to Britain’s vaccine heroes. Downloaded from PHE offers support to Britain’s vaccine heroes – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
10. Bedford, HE and Elliman, DAC (2020) Vaccination of youngsters and young people within the UK: current issues. Pediatrics and child health. 30 section 5 169-174. Downloaded from doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paed.2020.02.003
11. World Health Organization (2014) Report of the Sage Working Group on Vaccine Hesitancy. Downloaded from Microsoft Word – October 3 Vaccine WORKING GROUP hesitancy_final.docx (who.int)

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