ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica – Parents across the island are being urged to take advantage of the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ ‘mop up/catch up’ campaign to get their children immunised.

Medical Officer of Health at the St Elizabeth Health Department, Dr Tonia Dawkins-Beharie, said health professionals in the parish have been visiting schools and communities since the launch of the initiative in December 2022, administering vaccines to children from birth to 12 years.

“We want to ensure that all our children have received their childhood vaccinations as scheduled,” she said.

Dawkins-Beharie, who was addressing a monthly meeting of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation in Black River on March 9, said it is required under the law for children to be adequately immunised before entering school.

“I would just like to encourage the participants in these meetings to check the immunisation status of your children as well as the children in the communities,” she urged.

“They (parents) can connect with us at the health department to ensure that their children get the necessary vaccination,” she added.

At the launch of the mop up/catch up campaign in December, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, noted that the initiative was aimed at improving national immunisation efforts against preventable diseases.

Jamaica has had a record of excellence in achieving more than 95 per cent coverage for all recommended childhood vaccines.

Children in Jamaica must be vaccinated against the following preventable diseases: small pox, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, tetanus (lock jaw), diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella and congenital rubella syndrome, Haemophilus influenza type B, hepatitis B, and tuberculosis.