Vaccines can save lives and protect health and well-being

Effective and Safe Protection from Disease-This is why vaccines are an important and successful public health tool that saves lives and protects health and well-being. Today, vaccines protect us from more than 20 life-threatening illnesses.

Every year, vaccination against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, flu and measles saves 2 to 3 million lives. However, some vaccines, such as the vaccine against measles, are available not only to those who have been vaccinated, but also to those who may not be vaccinated, only if the population vaccination rate is high enough. You can maximize its potential.

Looking at the success of the vaccination program and the remaining challenges, this week’s issue Euro surveillance Will be issued on the occasion of European Vaccination Week (EIW) from April 26th to May 2nd, 2021. The campaign, which takes place in the last week of April each year, was established in 2005 by the European Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO). It aims to emphasize the benefits of routine immunization and support the national immunization system.

This year’s EIW slogan, “Vaccines bring us closer,” is an integral part of the response to end the ongoing pandemic and facilitate the physical distance measurements taken to control it. , Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is taken.

Vaccines have been found to work thanks to routine immunizations that have helped eradicate smallpox and protect against other illnesses that can have serious health consequences. Still, WHO estimates that about 20 million children worldwide are either not vaccinated or miss vaccinations in later years.

Vaccines are most often given to infants as part of a regular national vaccination schedule. However, vaccination protection is even more advanced than in childhood and is important for people at every stage of their lives, from teens to adults and the elderly. Providing such lifelong protection poses additional challenges to vaccination programs, including ensuring fair access to vaccines.

This editorial Euro surveillance This issue outlines lessons learned since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic regarding rapid vaccine development, licensing, procurement, distribution, and administration in large-scale vaccine campaigns. Explains important national vaccine decision-making considerations, such as during a pandemic, and the role played by the National Immunization Technology Advisory Group (NITAG) or equivalent in advising the government on optimal use of new vaccines. To do. Design a national vaccination program.

Also, in this issue, Williams and others. A documented and quantified immunization program for adults across 194 WHO member countries to assess the suitability of existing infrastructure for the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine. Looking at the five vaccines approved for adult vaccination (hepatitis B, herpes zoster, influenza, pneumococcal conjugate and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines), 120 (62%) of the 194 WHO member countries It turns out that it reports that it has at least one adult vaccination program. In 2018, and 59% of the countries had adult influenza vaccination programs.

We have found that high- and middle-income countries or high- and middle-income countries are significantly more likely to report an adult vaccination program. In multivariate analysis, national income acts as the most strongly relevant factor overall. Other significantly relevant factors in bivariate analysis include meeting the basic functional indicators of the National Immunization Technology Advisory Group (NITAG), introducing new or underutilized vaccines, and pediatrics. This includes achieving the vaccine coverage goals.

Based on their evaluation, Williams et al. Almost 40% of the evaluated countries do not have the infrastructure for adult vaccination, and even the existence of a national adult vaccination program does not guarantee widespread use of vaccines in the adult population. I have concluded.

One of the target groups for adult vaccination is healthcare professionals who are exposed to vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles, mumps, whooping cough, and chickenpox, which can infect patients.

In their article, von Linstow et al. Immune gaps were detected primarily among young healthcare professionals. In addition, a significant proportion of health care workers in this study are confident about their vaccination status (22-32%, depending on their illness) and their potential for previous infections (11% for chickenpox, 41% for whooping cough). I reported that it was not. According to the authors, this points to the need for more targeted measures, such as screening and vaccine strategies to address these gaps in healthcare professionals.

Especially for measles and related eradication goals, the scope and inclusion of regular childhood vaccination programs in many European countries in the same way that the immune gap between adolescents and adults needs to be addressed. Needs improvement.

In their treatise, Rohleder et al. We will examine the possible relationship between socio-economic deprivation and measles incidence in Germany, taking into account demographic, spatial and temporal factors. They conclude that the risk of measles infection is higher and is concentrated in areas with the highest socioeconomic status.

Fabani et al in a study of 6,423 healthcare workers in Italy who received the Comirnaty vaccine (BNT162b2, BioNTech / Pfizer, Mainz, Germany / New York, USA). The effect of preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection is 84% ​​(95% confidence interval (CI): 40-96) 14-21 days after initial administration and 95% (95% CI: 62-99). I found out. At least 7 days after the second dose. According to the authors, these results, along with evidence of targeted communication, may support an ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

Vaccination may currently be receiving more attention than usual, as many adults around the world are currently vaccinated or are waiting for an opportunity to be protected against COVID-19.Vaccine safety and Effectiveness, Ethical and impartiality considerations, and logistics are broader and more enthusiastic. In this regard, EIW aims to achieve better vaccination rates for all vaccine-preventable diseases in order to prevent diseases and protect individuals beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. It helps emphasize the ongoing need to strengthen our efforts.