Polio vaccine offered to primary school students after Easter

Pupils in London that are not already fully vaccinated against the infectious disease are set to be offered catch-up jabs after the Easter break.

Known as Poliomyelitis disease, but commonly shorted to ‘polio’, broke out in the UK in the 1950s and contributed to thousands of deaths as no vaccines had been available. The infection causes a sore throat, fever, and a headache, but in more extreme cases it can lead to permanent paralysis or even death.

The infection was combated with a vaccination and eliminated from the UK in 2003, but at the beginning of 2022 poliovirus traces were found in North and East London Sewage.

Following this, an emergency vaccination-booster campaign was rolled out in the capital city and reached more than 370,000 children. By November 2022, test results found fewer traces of the virus, but officials are still working to get the number to zero, which is why more children in primary schools will be offered the booster jab when returning to school after Easter.

Last year, 86% of people in London had received three doses of the polio vaccine, which was well below target levels as the rest of the UK was at 92%.

Figures for 2020/21 suggest some of the 34,000 children aged five in the capital city had not received their fourth dose out of five.

Dr Vanessa Saliba, from the UK Health security Agency, told BBC News: ‘We have early signs that there’s less spread of poliovirus in London – but we will need 12 months of no detections before the World health organisation could declare that the UK is no longer an infected country.

‘London is a very bustling, urban metropolis with lots of mobile populations, lots of diverse communities [which is why] we need to engage with these communities [so] that we get the messages across to them and that we make the vaccine as accessible as possible.

‘This is why the NHS is offering vaccinations through schools to children who have missed out.’ 

Image: CDC