NSW Health has issued a reminder to parents to ensure children are properly vaccinated, launching a calendar app to ensure vaccination dates aren’t forgotten.
Executive Director at Health Protection NSW, Jeremy McAnulty encouraged parents and carers to download the Save the Date to Vaccinate app to ensure their children received vaccinations on time.
“On-time vaccinations are the most effective way to protect children from life-threatening diseases,” Dr McAnulty said.
“The free Save the Date to Vaccinate app reminds parents and carers what vaccinations their child needs and when they’re due, in line with the NSW Immunisation Schedule,” he said.
“If a child has a runny nose or slight cold, they can still get vaccinated.”
Dr McAnulty said delaying vaccinations could leave children exposed to serious illnesses when they’re most vulnerable.
He said the recent measles outbreak in Samoa, which killed at least 83 people, was a reminder of how dangerous vaccine-preventable disease can be when immunisation rates were low.
“On-time vaccination and overall participation in childhood immunisation programs continues to improve in NSW, with 94.5 per cent of children fully vaccinated by five years of age in the past 12 months compared with 90.8 per cent in 2012,” Dr McAnulty said.
