Three weeks after several hundred Grand Erie students were suspended by the local health unit over missing immunization records, 29 pupils remain out of class.

Two-thirds  of the 296 students ordered out of class on March 31 were back at their  desks within three days, once their families provided proof they were  vaccinated against nine childhood diseases — as required by the  Immunization of School Pupils Act — or had a valid exemption on medical  or philosophical grounds.

The  health unit also hosted vaccine clinics throughout the region, and  nearly 90 per cent of the suspended students returned to school by April  10.

But 29 holdouts remain, with the health unit eager to get them back to class.

“We’re  actively trying to help them,” Eric Robertson, manager of  vaccine-preventable diseases with Grand Erie Public Health, told The  Spectator.

Some  families have been out of the country for an extended period while  others are waiting on vaccine records from other provinces, Robertson  explained.

“And some have just not engaged with their health unit,” he said.

There  are no vaccine clinics currently scheduled, but the vaccines are on  hand at the health unit should the families of the still-suspended  students call and make an appointment.

“If they can come in right now, we’ll see them right now,” Robertson said.

The  province requires students between the ages of four and 17 in all  Ontario schools to be vaccinated against childhood diseases like  meningitis, tetanus, pertussis and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella).

Health  units can suspend students who do not have proof of vaccination or a  valid exemption on file. But that drastic step is only taken after  months of written notices, phone calls and in-school communication  urging families to take action.

Parents  can submit vaccine records online, over the phone, in person, by fax  and even by emailing a picture of their child’s yellow vaccination card.  They can also ask the health unit to call their child’s doctor and have  records sent over.

“We’ll receive reports any way  we can get them,” Robertson said. “We’ll pretty much do anything  somebody wants us to do to get those records into our system.”

Last  summer, Grand Erie’s health unit pulled the vaccine records of students  born in 2009, 2017 and 2018 and sent out warning letters to 4,317  households in Haldimand-Norfolk and Brantford-Brant.

The  suspension notices catch many parents by surprise because of the  “common misconception” that the doctor who vaccinated their child will  also inform the health unit, Robertson said.

But legislation puts that responsibility on parents and guardians, not family doctors, he explained.

“In  a perfect world,” Robertson added, doctors would be allowed to share  that information with the health unit directly, and the health ministry  would create a provincial vaccination database to avoid future headaches  for parents and health officials.

“That would be the most ideal thing,” he said.

As  things stand, the health unit will likely have to chase down thousands  of immunization records again next year. But Robertson is optimistic the  post-pandemic tide is turning as families catch up on missed  immunizations.

“This year is improved in  comparison to last,” he said, adding the province and health unit’s  shared aim is to increase vaccine coverage and make classrooms safer.

“The  point of ISPA is not to suspend children,” he said. “The point is to  provide public health the most up-to-date data possible in order to  respond to an outbreak quickly.”