The legislation governing the administration of vaccines to children is the immunization of the children Act of 1982. Since Hepatitis B and Haemophilus Influenza Type B were introduced in 2003 they were not included in the Act. A bill to amend the act to include Hepatitis B and Haemophilus Influenza Type B, was passed in parliament on the 5th of April , 2011.
These Vaccines are geared towards preventing the infection and spreading of the Hepatitis B (Hep B) and the Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib) diseases in children. Although adults can be affected by such diseases as well, they are at a much lower risk of contamination than children and will only require one shot of each vaccine for immunization.
In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines the law stipulates that EVERY child must be immunized prior to entry into primary school. The Head Teacher is mandated to request a child’s immunization card at registration.
Since the immunization card contains the record of all the child’s vaccinations the Health workers must ensure the card is complete i.e. that all vaccines administered and other relevant health information are recorded and dated. A child can only be admitted if immunization is complete.
For more information on these two vaccines and the diseases associated with them, please click the following link:
