Health experts are concerned that a fresh measles outbreak could arise in Ukraine if hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated youngsters return to school in September, according to a Euronews story on Thursday (July 20). Ukraine had previously been a measles hotspot, and vaccine skepticism combined with supply disruptions resulted in a big outbreak in 2019. According to the health ministry, just 74% of children aged one and 69% of children aged six had their first and second measles vaccinations in 2022. Unvaccinated children between the ages of 2 and 17 will be sent to classrooms where the risk of contagion is substantially higher.
Approximately 260,000 children must be immunized: Minister
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Deputy Health Minister Ihor Kuzin stated that the ministry and immunization centers are continually monitoring contagion threats, with a measles epidemic currently being the largest danger. “The first measles explosion in Ukraine happened over the 2017-2019 period and was a massive outbreak that the government was trying to mitigate. Around 115,000 children contracted the disease at the time,” Kuzin said.
He went on to say that around 260,000 youngsters need to be vaccinated and that the country is at risk of a catastrophic outbreak until this is done. “So, until 1 September, when school starts, these children need to be vaccinated,” the deputy health minister added, urging people to get vaccinated within the next month and a half.
The World Health Organization (WHO) previously stated that Ukraine had become more vulnerable to communicable diseases following Russia’s beginning of the special military operation in February 2022. Vusala Allahverdiyeva, an expert on Disease Prevention And Immunisation at the WHO, said, “When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, we realized that the biggest health risks in the country were diphtheria and measles outbreaks.”
Ukraine receives 657,000 vaccination shots from UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) delivered another 657,000 doses of the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination (MMR) to Ukraine over a week ago. On July 17, Muhammad Tariq Iqbal, a Ukraine Immunisation Specialist at UNICEF, stated, “If your child missed the routine calendar shots, you need to catch up. UNICEF has delivered these vaccines to Ukraine.” Two doses of the MMR vaccination, given at 12 months and six years of age, provide excellent measles protection.