Virgin Islands residents are being cautioned about vaccine hesitancy as the Territory gets ready to observe Vaccination Week 2019.

Manager for the Expanded Programme on Immunization, Ms. Marina Bedeau in a BVI Health Services Authority Report, said that Vaccination Week is used as an opportunity to educate and promote the benefits of vaccination and to encourage more people to get vaccinated.

Ms. Bedeau said activities are planned to reach those persons who do not attend clinics and give them an opportunity to be vaccinated.

“We are currently seeing the re-emergence of measles because persons have been hesitant to vaccinate,” she said, adding, “In 2016 the Americas and the Caribbean were declared free of measles.  We have since lost that certification since the measles outbreaks in the Americas, the UK, Venezuela and Bahamas.”

Ms. Bedeau added that persons can avoid contracting the disease by getting vaccinated. “If you are not vaccinated it means that your immune system will attract the virus easily and you can transmit the infection or disease, to others causing an outbreak. We do not want to have an outbreak in the BVI, our last indigenous case measles was recorded in 1990,” she stated.

Persons are encouraged to participate in Vaccination Week activities and learn more about vaccine preventable diseases and better understand the importance that vaccination plays in healthcare management.

Vaccination Week will be observed from April 20 to 27 under the theme “Protect your Community, Do your Part” #GETVAX. Persons can tune into ZBVI on April 23 and 25 at 9:00 a.m. to hear more from the EPI Manager about Vaccination Week 2019 and the benefits of vaccines.

The BVI Health Services Authority is committed to delivering excellent, compassionate, client centered healthcare across the Territory.