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.<\/p>\n
Two-thirds \u00a0of the 296 students ordered out of class on March 31 were back at their \u00a0desks within three days, once their families provided proof they were \u00a0vaccinated against nine childhood diseases \u2014 as required by the \u00a0Immunization of School Pupils Act \u2014 or had a valid exemption on medical \u00a0or philosophical grounds.<\/p>\n
The \u00a0health unit also hosted vaccine clinics throughout the region, and \u00a0nearly 90 per cent of the suspended students returned to school by April \u00a010.<\/p>\n
But 29 holdouts remain, with the health unit eager to get them back to class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re \u00a0actively trying to help them,\u201d Eric Robertson, manager of \u00a0vaccine-preventable diseases with Grand Erie Public Health, told The \u00a0Spectator.<\/p>\n
Some \u00a0families have been out of the country for an extended period while \u00a0others are waiting on vaccine records from other provinces, Robertson \u00a0explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd some have just not engaged with their health unit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There \u00a0are no vaccine clinics currently scheduled, but the vaccines are on \u00a0hand at the health unit should the families of the still-suspended \u00a0students call and make an appointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they can come in right now, we\u2019ll see them right now,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n
The \u00a0province requires students between the ages of four and 17 in all \u00a0Ontario schools to be vaccinated against childhood diseases like \u00a0meningitis, tetanus, pertussis and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella).<\/p>\n
Health \u00a0units can suspend students who do not have proof of vaccination or a \u00a0valid exemption on file. But that drastic step is only taken after \u00a0months of written notices, phone calls and in-school communication \u00a0urging families to take action.<\/p>\n
Parents \u00a0can submit vaccine records online, over the phone, in person, by fax \u00a0and even by emailing a picture of their child\u2019s yellow vaccination card. \u00a0They can also ask the health unit to call their child\u2019s doctor and have \u00a0records sent over.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll receive reports any way \u00a0we can get them,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cWe\u2019ll pretty much do anything \u00a0somebody wants us to do to get those records into our system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last \u00a0summer, Grand Erie\u2019s health unit pulled the vaccine records of students \u00a0born in 2009, 2017 and 2018 and sent out warning letters to 4,317 \u00a0households in Haldimand-Norfolk and Brantford-Brant.<\/p>\n
The \u00a0suspension notices catch many parents by surprise because of the \u00a0\u201ccommon misconception\u201d that the doctor who vaccinated their child will \u00a0also inform the health unit, Robertson said.<\/p>\n
But legislation puts that responsibility on parents and guardians, not family doctors, he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn \u00a0a perfect world,\u201d Robertson added, doctors would be allowed to share \u00a0that information with the health unit directly, and the health ministry \u00a0would create a provincial vaccination database to avoid future headaches \u00a0for parents and health officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be the most ideal thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As \u00a0things stand, the health unit will likely have to chase down thousands \u00a0of immunization records again next year. But Robertson is optimistic the \u00a0post-pandemic tide is turning as families catch up on missed \u00a0immunizations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year is improved in \u00a0comparison to last,\u201d he said, adding the province and health unit\u2019s \u00a0shared aim is to increase vaccine coverage and make classrooms safer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe \u00a0point of ISPA is not to suspend children,\u201d he said. \u201cThe point is to \u00a0provide public health the most up-to-date data possible in order to \u00a0respond to an outbreak quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three weeks after several hundred Grand Erie students were suspended by the local health unit over missing immunization…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,2770,84,13930,2852,2724,55271,1058,11074,38577,2727,32146,20434,44327,15019],"class_list":{"0":"post-628147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-children","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-health-sciences","13":"tag-immunology","14":"tag-infectious-diseases","15":"tag-medical-prevention","16":"tag-medicine","17":"tag-pediatrics","18":"tag-preventive-medicine","19":"tag-public-health","20":"tag-spare-news","21":"tag-vaccination","22":"tag-vaccine-preventable-diseases","23":"tag-vaccines"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}