Call: Can do much more John Rauch currently not doing so.
But in view of the increasing number of measles cases, the Minister of Health repeats his call to “check your own vaccination certificate and that of your children and catch up on missed vaccinations”.
For Rauch, the renewed increase in measles cases in Austria shows “how important the vaccinations from the free vaccination program of the federal government, the federal states and the social security system are”.
A vaccination rate of 95 percent would be necessary
The Ministry of Health reminds that the measles vaccination is available free of charge to everyone in the vaccination program. It is generally recommended from the age of 9 months. Missing vaccinations can and should be made up at any age.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a vaccination rate of 95% with two vaccinations would be necessary to eradicate measles in the long term. This goal has not yet been achieved in Austria.
Vaccination rates against measles-mumps-rubella have been determined since 2015 using an agent-based dynamic simulation model.
There are minor fluctuations in vaccination rates year-on-year. During the pandemic year 2021, a lower number of vaccinations were administered and the cohorts with low vaccination rates were not yet able to catch up.
According to the Ministry of Health, children are vaccinated against measles later than recommended and not sufficiently consistently with both recommended doses. There are still some vaccination gaps in the group of young adults.
The Ministry of Health plans to increasingly contribute to education with information materials. This includes the fact that measles leads to diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia and encephalitis in around one in five cases.