Dublin Councilor Calls for Mandatory Vaccinations for School Going Children

Cllr. Eilis Ryan, The Workers Party, has called on the Government to introduce a manadatory scheme of vaccinations for all school-going children to stem whooping cough and measles outbreaks. An outbreak of measles in Dublin has brought this issue to the fore according to Cllr. Ryan. She wants to see all children attending creches, play facilities and schools to be vaccinated.

Proposing the scheme, Cllr. Éilis Ryan of the Workers’ Party said: “It is important that we not understate the severity of the situation we face in Dublin. Just yesterday (Tuesday) we heard a baby died in the midlands from Whooping Cough. Meanwhile, there have been 17 confirmed cases of measles in recent weeks, with the majority in Dublin. The last outbreak, in 2016, rose to 40 cases, with a fifth of these being children who were too young to be vaccinated. Its time our government realised that the non-mandatory vaccination in Ireland has failed as a policy, and move quickly towards a mandatory scheme before an anti-vaccination culture takes greater hold.”

It is common in many countries that only vaccinated children are permitted to attend educational or childcare facilities.

In Ireland Primary School Children will receive a 4 in 1 booster to protect against diphtheria, polio, tetanus and whooping cough and a second dose of MMR to protect against meassles, mumps and rubella, these vaccines are usually given by a HSE doctor or nurse to Junior Infants, those in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal must attend their GP.

Vaccines are optional at second level, and the HSE informs students in 6th class.