While most babies get their first measles vaccination, many miss the second dose as mums struggle to reach far off clinics in the [b]Eastern Cape[/b]. A [s]Health-e[/s] report says that according to health workers, ‘most of them do not miss the vaccine especially for babies younger than nine months. The problem we experience is with the 18-months-old babies (because) their mothers do not bring them for measles vaccination.’
An investigation monitoring clinics around SA found that there were stock-outs of polio, rotavirus, tetanus and hepatitis B in some of the clinics. Also, many vaccines, like the measles vaccine, also need to be reconstituted before being administered. However, some nurses in the Eastern Cape report that packers at the Mthatha medicines depot often do not pair the right reconstituting liquid with the right vaccine.
[link url=http://www.health-e.org.za/2014/03/12/missing-babies-missing-booster-shots]Full Health-e report[/link]