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Foto: pixabay
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The vaccination coverage in Utrecht is increasing among 2-year-olds, 5-year-olds and teenage girls. The current increases are a positive development, because a high vaccination coverage protects children against infectious diseases. However, the increase is not visible in all neighborhoods.
No increase is yet visible among the 10-year-olds, but the decline does seem to be stabilizing. The municipality therefore continues to work with professionals to ensure a high vaccination coverage for the various vaccinations throughout the city.
The vaccination coverage of MMR (mumps, measles and rubella) among Utrecht babies and toddlers rose to 95.3% for the second year in a row, after a decrease in the period from 2013 to 2018. The vaccination coverage for the D ( K) TP among 5-year-olds rose in Utrecht for the first time since 2015 to 93.7%. The percentage of HPV vaccinated teenage girls also rose to 55.4%.
Differences can be seen between the different neighborhoods in the city. For example, the vaccination rate in the Vleuten-de Meern, Northeast, West and South districts is higher than the average in the city, but lower in Overvecht, Binnenstad and Southwest. The HPV vaccination coverage varies the most in the neighborhoods: of the teenage girls in Overvecht, 26.6% were vaccinated against HPV, while this increased to 78.1% in the Noordoost neighborhood.
A local vaccination alliance has been set up in Utrecht. In this alliance, the municipality of Utrecht is working with professionals in the city to increase vaccination coverage. This is done by sharing knowledge, expertise and signals and by organizing meetings around this theme. Examples are the dialogue session ‘talking about vaccination’ together with Utrecht in Dialogue and the themed meeting for professionals about vaccination that will be organized early next year. In the neighborhoods where the vaccination coverage is lower, the municipality will discuss vaccination with parents, professionals and other key figures, and the municipality will look for underlying reasons why parents vaccinate less often (completely), for example insufficient information or reduced confidence in government authorities.
“Health differences per neighborhood must be reduced. You do this, for example, by focusing more on prevention. Vaccination is perhaps the textbook example of this. We want a high vaccination rate for the entire city, in every neighborhood. It is therefore important to invest extra in the neighborhoods where the vaccination coverage is lower by talking to residents from those neighborhoods ”. According to Eelco Eerenberg, Alderman for Public Health.
Various measures have also been taken by the Youth Health Care (JGZ) to increase the vaccination coverage. For example, since June the JGZ has been offering prospective parents in Utrecht an introductory meeting during pregnancy. During this conversation, parents-to-be receive information about vaccinations and can ask questions. During the meningococcal vaccination campaign in 2019, young people were immediately given the opportunity to catch up on the HPV vaccination. From 2021, the HPV vaccination will probably also be offered to boys and children will be vaccinated against HPV by the age of 9. The visits of parents and children of group 7 to the JGZ will also be brought forward to group 5. In that group 5 consultation, extra space will be created for the discussion and information about the vaccinations at the age of 9.
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