Teresa Jackowska: Many schools to have the facilities necessary for vaccinations

The availability of the HPV vaccination program for children and adolescents is changing. A larger group will be able to be vaccinated and schools are to be better involved. Is this the way to make these vaccinations better promoted, so that there will be a higher proportion of vaccinated children? In your opinion, will schools be able to cope?

According to the characteristics of medicinal products, that is, the two vaccines we have on the market in Poland, these vaccinations are registered above the age of 9. However, experts in many countries, including us, recommend vaccination between the ages of 11 and 14. This is when we give two doses of the vaccine. Despite the availability of this vaccine above the age of 9, however, I would recommend this vaccination precisely in this age range of 12-13, and certainly before the age of 14. The fact that this group is expanding does not necessarily translate into a higher percentage of vaccinated children.

Some of the expert group recommended that this be in the mandatory immunization program. From a year's observations, it seems that it was those (I was also in this group) who were right, who said not to fuss too much with the organization of vaccinations. The organization of vaccinations may have been good in concept, for the reason that the parent had the right to choose the clinic, he could have the first dose administered at a different clinic and the second dose administered at a different clinic. He had the right to choose not necessarily the clinic where the child is enrolled. However, it turned out that this did not pass the test in the Polish health care system. Also, the subsequent results we get from the e-health system show that parents, who are aware, report with their children for vaccinations, but are waiting for a vaccine with broader coverage, a nine-valent vaccine. Some clinics only offer the bivalent vaccine, and so parents are opting out.

As for the introduction of vaccinations to schools, this was also one of our demands, because we looked at European results, where these vaccinations were implemented extensively, not only in primary health care, but also in schools, and brought greater success, that is, a higher percentage of children were vaccinated. I want to remind you that in the oncology strategy the target was 60 percent, and this is still a low ceiling for European data. It is difficult to say exactly what the percentage vaccinated is - maybe 20-30 percent... The vaccine has been available in Poland for 20 years. It is recommended by many pediatricians. Some parents have not waited for free vaccinations, but have already vaccinated their children. And this is another pebble in our health care system that we, in fact, do not know what percentage of children are vaccinated, despite the fact that about a year ago it was made mandatory to report recommended vaccinations, but only recommended vaccinations, not mandatory vaccinations in the electronic health booklet system. Children have been vaccinated with recommended vaccines for several years and we don't have this data. There is a need to make changes to the electronic health booklet for all vaccinations that are implemented. Vaccination in schools is certainly also a good solution. It is good for principals not to hinder this, to recommend vaccinations and give the green light to conduct vaccinations. I also heard that vaccinations are to be implemented on Saturdays and Sundays. I don't know if this will actually be a good solution - we'll see. On the other hand, there are certainly nurses' offices in many schools, meaning the facilities are fully equipped to carry out vaccinations in a safe manner. We have a huge group of pediatrics residents who can, after all, be used for this. Those who have completed the immunization course already have the basics (and such an immunization course is in the first basic module). So they can be different support systems by doctors who vaccinate children in Poland and must be present at the vaccination qualification. Remember that the injection, an intramuscular injection, is administered by a nurse, but the qualification for vaccination, including HPV vaccination, is conducted by a doctor.