Catherine Conlon: Could pharmacies help prevent measles surge?

With a measles spike expected following the Easter break, should pharmacies be added to the arsenal of GPs and countrywide walk-in vaccination clinics?

It seems community pharmacists could become a growing part of efforts to both address vaccine hesitancy and improve vaccination rates. At this critical point — when the country is under threat of a significant surge in measles cases over the coming months — is it time to reconsider the role of pharmacists in their ability to ameliorate this threat? File picture

Vaccinating children who missed their measles shots during the covid pandemic is critical, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official has said, as outbreaks of the infectious disease increase globally.

More than 50 countries have experienced ‘large and disruptive’ measles outbreaks in the last year, twice as many as in 2022, WHO’s director of immunisation Kate O’Brien said at a virtual press conference.