Two new vaccines are to be offered to 70,000 children in Ireland next year.
The first jab would protect children against a killer strain of meningitis, while the second would guard against rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and young children.
England has already become the first country in the world to offer the meningitis vaccine to all babies born in its hospitals. The inoculation, which guards against meningitis and septicaemia caused by the meningococcal B (MenB) bacteria, rolls out nationwide this month after the UK government reached a deal with GlaxoSmithKline.
Meanwhile Ireland has the highest rate of meningitis B in the EU, with more than 100 people affected annually. While the vaccine Bexsero has been available here privately from GPs, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee has long recommended a national immunisation programme should be introduced.
The new vaccines were revealed as part of a €17.9m HSE funding plan in the Irish Independent.
Will you be taking your child for the new vaccines once they become available in Ireland? Let us know on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.
