A vaccine is likely to make a major contribution to getting us out of the Covid-19 crisis. We know this because vaccines have provided the answer to many other infective crises in the past.
In the most successful cases, vaccines can eradicate diseases. The UK was declared measles-free in 2017, but due to a combination of now-discredited medical research in the 1990s and dangerous anti-vaccination propaganda that has since proliferated, inoculation rates have fallen and there has been an increase in cases and deaths. In 2018, our measles-free status was withdrawn.
Vaccines only work if people have them. Therefore it is essential that parents continue to get their children vaccinated during the Covid-19 pandemic. A further slump in vaccination uptake risks outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella in the future.
General practice is “open for business” and it is a priority for GPs to offer vaccinations. We encourage parents to contact their GP if their child has one due. They will not be adding to the current burden on the NHS – they are safeguarding it for the future.
Professor Martin Marshall
Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners
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