FOR YOUR 2021 TO-DO LIST

South Africa’s child vaccination rate has dropped: statistics from the Department of Health (DOH) show that immunisation coverage in April dropped to 61 percent in 2020, down from 82 percent in 2019. Ideally, rates should be 95 percent. The obvious reasons for the drop are of course a fear of going out during the lockdown and also low vaccine stocks, as the supply chain was disrupted during the lockdown.

Dr Iqbal Karbanee, CEO of Paed-IQ BabyLine, says that babies and young children need to have vaccinated people around them to keep them safe from viruses and diseases.

“It keeps our most vulnerable citizens safe. We cannot afford for parents to continue to delay vaccinating their children,” Dr Karbanee says. If your children have missed a key vaccination, make it your mission to catch up way before school starts in January.

“It takes approximately four to six weeks for vaccinations to be effective from the administered date,”

Dr Karbanee explains. For more information, visit paedIQ.com.