Tonight, we're looking at the importance of vaccine schedule adherence and hearing from two medical professionals who work daily to keep vaccine rates up. Cherisse Halsall reports.

This news feature is a collaboration between 7 News, UNICEF, the people of Japan, and the Ministry of Health.

Vaccines, they've had a bad rap since the pandemic when lockdowns and widespread misinformation on vaccines left even measles, rubella, and polio vaccines schedules at risk of failure.

Richard Reed, Rural Health Nurse, NRH
"A very challenging situation for us here in Orange Walk in specific communities due to the fact because of cultural beliefs, some false information that has been spread around by other communities, also some feel that we are giving the COVID vaccine to the children and they don't want that. They would want the other communicable diseases just a misunderstanding and some don't want it because the vaccine causes fever. So what we have done is a lot of health education to the community, providing Health fairs, outreach we do health visits and we try to even provide Tylenol to some families that cannot afford Tylenol to help them. So, we have to reassure them as much that the vaccine, any vaccine has its effects but side effects that are very severe are very rare."

"With those simple things we have seen that it helps a lot with certain communities but some are just a little more challenging. That it even allows us to go into the rain to do home visits to try and get vaccines to these um, communities and even put us. At risk but at the end of the day we are here to reach a goal and to prevent communicable diseases in these communities and it gives us a reassurance knowing that our communities over 95% protected."

But what is a vaccine schedule, and why is it important?

Richard Reed, Rural Health Nurse, NRH
"It is very very important to the family to stick with the immunization schedule because they all go in sequence and these vaccines are given at a specific time and to give the protection to the child at a specific age, example for the pentovalant started at 2 months, four months, and six months and is very very important to stick with the schedule the nurse or the doctor has given to the family because the more they stick to the schedule, the more effective the vaccine will be."

And along with effectivity, adherence to vaccine schedules have been the most important goal of the UNICEF Japan project. It's why they've worked to equip rural clinics with the appropriate equipment and personnel.

Just what we saw on the day August Pine Ridge got a vaccine refrigerator with a door that actually closed.

Melva Gideon, Rural Health Nurse, August Pine Ridge
"I am very thankful that they are thinking about us that they don't forget us and it will be very helpful for the community too and for the nurse."

"It's very helpful because it gives you more, the technology is more advance now, that now we can lock the doors for the refrigerator because the previous one you couldn't lock it so it wasn't good to secure our vaccines but with this one yes and the next point is it makes an alarm too when there is a low temperature too or when the temperature is higher than."

And what happens if you or your child misses a dose? Nurse Reed says it's nothing that the clinics can't handle.

Richard Reed, Rural Health Nurse, NRH
"Well they just return back to the clinic and the nurse will just guide them and let them know that it is okay and let them know that you missed it but we start from where you belongs that you belong on the schedule and keep on moving forward from there. We don't discourage them or tell them that the vaccine won't work, it will work. It's just that you know, depending on which vaccine you will have to start back from scratch or you just continue with the regiment."

It's work that, in the long run, contributes to herd immunity for multiple communicable diseases and the overall effectivity of vaccines.

Melva Gideon, Rural Health Nurse, August Pine Ridge.
"Well it was a pleasure for me to be working at my own village because I am originally from here and I think it's very helpful for the community to have a nurse here because before they used to go way to San Felipe to get vaccines."

Richard Reed, Rural Health Nurse, NRH
"It is very rewarding knowing that your community that you are living in, it is. highly protected against communicable diseases and it also lessens our work in the future if any of those communicable diseases would ever come around, for example COVID, you know we don't want to get to another situation like that having measles outbreaks here in Belize and so that is why it's very very important that we emphasize on the vaccines and I feel very happy that we are doing our part and we have families that are also doing thier part."

This news feature is a collaboration between 7 News, UNICEF, the people of Japan, and the Ministry of Health.