Children in Harrogate need to attend rescheduled vaccination appointments, experts warn

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Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust’s childhood immunisation teams are reassuring people that rescheduled appointments are safe to attend.

Routine vaccination appointments for school-aged children were cancelled earlier this year as schools closed in light of the coronavirus crisis.

Now there is concern in the NHS that the public’s fear of contracting coronavirus is preventing them from accessing essential healthcare when they need it - something which professionals are warning could have a serious knock-on effect in the future.

Appointments are now being offered in risk-assessed community settings to allow proper social distancing to be maintained. Clinical staff will be in appropriate PPE and appointments are being staggered to reduce the number of people on site at once.

Anyone with a child who is pre-school age and has missed a vaccination is asked to contact their GP to arrange an appointment - unless anyone in the household is displaying Covid-19 symptoms.

Lois Alderson, Clinical Lead for the North Yorkshire and City of York Childhood Immunisations Team, said: “The national immunisation programme is highly successful in reducing the incidences of serious and sometimes life-threatening diseases, and so it is vitally important we ensure a high level of vaccination uptake to prevent a resurgence of infectious diseases.

“Some families may be worried about attending appointments in the current climate, but they should rest assured that infection control procedures have been put in place to ensure that their child is vaccinated in a safe environment.”

One parent, who attended a childhood immunisation appointment at the start of the month, passed on her thanks to the team who provided the service. She said: “They made us feel very safe in the current pandemic situation and put my son who is petrified of needles at total ease.”

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For more information on immunisation services provided in North Yorkshire visit www.facebook.com/childhoodimmunisations/

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