QUESTION
Is there a way to test if asylum seekers and their children have been vaccinated?
0:31:45
·
64 sec
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene indicates blood tests can confirm a child's vaccination status.
- Blood tests or serologic tests can be used to determine immunity to vaccines, serving as proof of immunity similar to vaccine administration records.
- When documentation is unavailable, it may take time for serologic test results to return, complicating matters especially for populations that move frequently.
- As a standard practice, it's recommended to administer a vaccine instead of waiting for serologic test results, deemed safe and more practical for mobile populations.
Francisco P. Moya
0:31:45
There have been reports on the ground that some asylum seekers and they're children are at risk of duplicative vaccinations either due to the fact that they are unable to obtain health records from where they were vaccinated or are unsure whether their children receive such vaccinations is their way to test either via a blood test or any other medical screening to confirm whether a child has been vaccinated for a disease such as the measles?
Dr. Celia Quinn
0:32:12
Yeah.
0:32:12
It's an important question.
0:32:14
So there are blood tests or serologic tests that can test whether a child has immunity to these vaccines, and those are acceptable as evidence of immunity just like a vaccine administration record would be.
0:32:29
That said, when documentation of having received a vaccine is not available.
0:32:34
It may take a while for the serologic test to come back, and especially in a population where people are moving around quite a bit.
0:32:40
Is actually standard practice and safe to administer a vaccine instead of trying to get a serologic test and find out the results many days later.