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I should like to record my appreciation to the co-operation
shown by my staff and by the general medical practitioners in
dealing with this great rush for vaccination.
The whole of the increase over the normal demand occurred in
a few weeks during the first quarter of the year, but the administrative
work in checking and filing of all the records involved was still
not completed by the end of the year. Requests for international
certificates of vaccination which amounted to over a thousand increased
the clerical work involved.
871 of the persons vaccinated for the first time were children
under one year of age, which means that in 1962 approximately
45.7% of infants were vaccinated during the first year of life.
This compares with 32.8% in 1961.
At the end of 1961, the County Council's scheme for vaccination
and immunisation was extended to include tetanus, and also to include
the use of triple (Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, and Tetanus)
and combined (Diphtheria and Tetanus) Antigens. In February,
Oral (Sabin) vaccine was made available by the Ministry of
Health for vaccination against Poliomyelitis, as an alternative to
the Salk vaccine. The oral vaccine has the advantages of obviating
a senes of injections, whilst affording a greater measure of protection.
By the fourth quarter of the year, the majority (92%) of immunisations
against Poliomyelitis were being carried out by the use of
Oral vaccine.
The following table sets out the primary courses of immunisation
during the year:—
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