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Killarney mother urges government to implement vaccine for all children

A Killarney mother says not all children are being treated equally after discovering that the potentially life-saving meningitis B vaccine is only available to some children.

Danielle Kissane from Park Road, who is mom to Jack (6) and Kate, who is almost 3, now faces a cost of up to €700 to vaccinate both her children – but says it’s a price she’s willing to pay.
Last week Danielle discovered that a vaccination against meningitis B has been routinely offered free since October 2016 but that children born before this will not receive the B vaccine. Last Thursday she brought the issue to the attention of the nation on the Joe Duffy show.
And although the vaccine can cost €115 to €150 per injection with two required, costing parents up to €300 or more per child – she’s urging parents to pay it.
She has also raised the issue with TD John Brassil, spokesperson on Primary Care Community and Health Services, who says he will raise it in the Dáil next week.
However, Danielle isn’t willing to wait and take the chance as she says there have been 11 cases of meningitis notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre since the last week of December - of which three have already died.
And she says that Simon Harris has rejected calls for the government to provide a free meningitis vaccine to all children claiming it went against the advice of clinicians.
“I would strongly urge any parent with children born before October 1, 2016 and that are under the age of 18 to please vaccinate your children - even if they have to pay for it,” Danielle told the Killarney Advertiser.
“You can’t take the chance. The children of this country are being discriminated against based on their date of birth, which to me makes no sense on any level and is actually putting children’s lives at risk.”
Armed with her information she got in touch with Fianna Fail TD John Brassil who is the spokesperson on Primary Care Community and Health Services.
“John was absolutely appalled on hearing this information and immediately set to work on his own investigations. I spoke on the Joe Duffy show on Thursday to highlight the issue and by that evening John Brassil was speaking about it on Drivetime. John will also be raising it in the Dáil next week when it returns, where he will be calling for full vaccinations.”

She added that it is not just young children affected – the disease affects all ages and is quite prevalent in college students.
“The bottom line here is that there should be a law put in place that if a vaccine schedule changes there should be catch up vaccines put in place for all children who did not receive the vaccine regardless of their date of birth.”