Special vaccine drive: Measles vaccine age lowered to six months

The National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) yesterday recommended lowering the age for administering the measles vaccine to six months, as one-third of the children recently infected with measles are under nine months, the current age for vaccination.

However, the measles vaccine for children aged six months to five years will be given only during a special vaccination campaign, expected to be held in June or July based on the availability of all logistics, said Halimur Rashid, director of disease control at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and also a member of NITAG.

The age for routine measles vaccination will remain nine months.

The group also decided to investigate the recent surge in measles cases to determine whether the cases originated within the country or not and has assigned the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) to carry out the task, The Daily Star has learnt from meeting attendants.

The advisory group held the meeting amid a surge in measles cases, with at least 40 children reported dead from measles or related complications as of Sunday. The actual number of deaths could be higher.

A total of 676 positive measles cases have been reported until Sunday to the DGHS, though the actual number could be higher.

Children aged nine months and 15 months receive measles vaccination twice under the regular immunisation programme, said Shahriar Sajjad, director of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).

The vaccination rate is 90 to 92 percent, so special vaccination campaigns are usually carried out every four years, with the latest one held in 2020.

The planned special campaign in 2024 could not be conducted due to unrest in the country, he said.

However, 34 percent of the measles patients in this outbreak are under nine months, and the meeting therefore decided to lower the measles vaccine age to six months during the special vaccination campaign.

During the campaign, the vaccine will be given to children aged six months to five years. However, in six districts where the vaccine dropout rate is relatively high, it will be administered to children aged six months to 10 years, he said.

The age for routine measles vaccination will remain nine months, as they need to analyse all data before making any changes to the age limit for regular vaccination.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the public-private global health partnership that helps vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries, funds the vaccine and other logistics for the special campaign, according to Sajjad.

While Gavi has already provided two crore measles vaccines for the campaign, the other logistics like syringes and others are yet to arrive.

EPI had planned to carry out the special campaign in mid-April but it would not be possible as Gavi said they would be able to provide syringes between May and July. In that case, the campaign can be delayed, he said.

Asked about the shortage of measles vaccine, he said the vaccine is still available at the field level but it would be exhausted.

“So, we have written to Gavi to use the vaccines intended for the special campaign for routine vaccination and will replace them when we procure vaccines for regular use,” he said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain yesterday reiterated that the cabinet committee on government purchase approved a Tk 604 crore proposal for procuring vaccines last week and will attempt to bring the shots as soon as possible.