Jersey parents encouraged to immunise children against MMR to protect others

Jersey's Public Health team is encouraging parents to immunise their children from measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) to protect other islanders.

It's holding additional MMR vaccine clinics ahead of the half-term break, with the next session taking place on Wednesday 7 February between 4:30pm and 6:30pm.

Currently the overall coverage for the MMR vaccine in Jersey is at 96% which is above the World Health Organisation's recommended target

Immunisation Specialist Nurse for Public Health, Victoria Vale says that figure must be maintained to stop the spread of infectious diseases: "The immunisation rate above 95% would give Jersey the coverage - the heard immunity if you would like - to cover the people who are not able to have the vaccine.

"It will give us good protection to try and stop that widespread spreading of measles that can happen, because it's a highly contagious disease that we don't want to spread."

The clinic will be held in the Outpatients Department at the General Hospital and parents do have to book an appointment beforehand.

The MMR vaccine is given in two doses - the first when a child reaches a year old and the second a few months after they turn three.

Parents who are unsure whether their child is up to date with vaccinations can contact the Immunisations Team.