Thousands of students vaccinated after health unit warns of consequences for not having updated records
After reviewing immunization data, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) found a large drop in coverage for some vaccines. This has prompted health officials to create an enforcement campaign in order to get thousands of students up-to-date with their mandatory vaccinations.
“Their records have to be up-to-date,” said Dr. Alex Summers, MLHU’s chief medical officer of health.
School vaccine requirements are in place to help prevent nine diseases including diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease and hepatitis B.
“The reason we’re doing this is to make sure we protect our community from vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Summers. “We want to keep kids healthy and we want to keep them in school. I recognize it’s ironic using suspensions to keep kids in school but it actually works by having those deadlines in place.”
In early January, parents with children enrolled in local schools received a notice advising them to get the required vaccines, otherwise they would be facing suspension.
“This year we’ve divided all the kids whose records aren’t up to date into six different groups,” Summers explained on Wednesday. “We are working through those six different groups between January and May, so we did our first group in January and we are onto our second group now in February.”
Since suspension notices were sent out for Jan. 18, 3,000 to 4,000 students were immunized with the required vaccines, according to Summers.
“For me as a parent, my kids repeatedly had virus after virus,” said Carol Dyck. “We know that the schools are hot beds for germs and for me right now I think the last thing we need is an outbreak of measles or meningitis.”
There will be consequences for unvaccinated students by suspension, unless children are eligible for an exemption, the health unit added.
An exemption would include a medical exemption or a conscientious exemption. In order to qualify for those exemptions, paper work needs to be completed, Summers said.
“There’s always options available for people. The only option that isn’t available is to not participate in the process at all,” he said.
Dan Peters, superintendent of education for the London District Catholic School said the health unit has been coordinating with each school’s principal.
“We are hoping to avoid suspensions,” he said, and explained that this might have been the first time that students have been in this situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying annual vaccinations.
“I think every year there are situations with families where their children aren't up-to-date with vaccinations because families have had so many others going on and I think the pandemic exasperated that,” Peters said.
The MLHU sent out another notice stating that the second round of school suspensions will begin two weeks from Wednesday on Feb. 15.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Being harassed at work? What to consider when deciding what to do next
If you've been the victim of workplace harassment, it can be difficult to feel you're not alone - and even more difficult to know where to go with a complaint.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Half of Canadians support TikTok ban, with U.S. concerns 'trickling' north: poll
A new poll indicates 51 per cent of Canadians support banning the social media app TikTok, after a U.S. bill aiming to do just that passed in the House of Representatives.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.