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Nanna Árnadóttir

@nannaarnadottir

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Between 5-12% of Icelandic children are not vaccinated against contagious common childhood diseases, reports RÚV.

The Head of Iceland’s Vaccination Programme, Þórólfur Guðnason, argues that this is cause for concern because the rate of vaccinated children needs to be over 90% in order to prevent an outbreak.

Þórólfur told RÚV that while 90% was a sufficient vaccination rate for the most part, it needs to be higher than 90% for measles in particular.

In recent years there has been a minor rise in parents reluctant to vaccinate their children, said Þórólfur, but “97% of people in Iceland are pro-vaccination so it’s not that much of an issue there, thankfully.”