Falling child vaccination rates pose polio risk

There are a significant number of babies and children potentially at risk of polio, says Newsroom. It’s recommended children in New Zealand receive polio vaccinations as part of their routine free childhood immunisations at six weeks, three months and five months old, with a booster dose at age four. However, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, childhood immunisation rates for polio, and other ‘childhood’ diseases, have dropped. For every case of polio, there are about 200 people infected by this disease, which can cause permanent paralysis, and sometimes death.