People will be able to get their free vaccine shots from their family doctor and not just the government health centres within the next few weeks, Health Minister Chris Fearne told journalists on Thursday.
The World Health Organisation has said that there has been a “dramatic resurgence” of measles in Europe, in part fuelled by vaccine refusals, with nearly 90,000 people having been hit by the virus in the first half of 2019.
Asked by The Malta Independent whether there are any concerns that there could be a similar resurgence in Malta, Fearne said that it had been at least 15 years since Malta had measles cases, but noted that in recent years a small number of cases had started to appear.
He said that Malta still has a very strong rate of children who are vaccinated, which is positive, but said that steps have been taken so that family doctors are given the faculty to pick up the free vaccinations which are available at health centres and provide the vaccines to their patients at their homes. He said that he hopes that this will add onto those 3 to 4% of the population who are not vaccinating, noting that a full announcement on the initiative will be made in the coming weeks.
Asked whether he was afraid that Malta would lose its status as “measles-free”, as has happened to four European countries – the UK, Albania, Czech Republic, and Greece – Fearne said that the status itself is not important per se, but that what is important is that the disease is controlled.
He noted that measles can have very serious consequences to those who are affected by the virus, and reminded that there is absolutely no scientific basis to support the “scaremongering” of the movement of people who advocate for not having their children vaccinated.
