Many Montreal children not up to date with certain vaccines: health officials
Posted December 11, 2022 2:39 pm.
Last Updated December 11, 2022 6:42 pm.
Montreal health officials are reminding parents to verify their child’s vaccination status when it comes to certain diseases.
Montreal Public Health believes the number of adequately vaccinated children is insufficient to maintain herd immunity against certain serious diseases, like mumps, rubella, and the measles.
Parents are being asked to make sure their kids’ vaccines are up to date.
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“It’s really important for people to understand that these vaccine-preventable illnesses still can happen, and especially if there is a poor uptake,” said Dr. Earl Rubin, the division director of pediatric infectious diseases at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
The target to prevent transmission of certain diseases is about 95 per cent.
The regional health authority told CityNews that vaccination coverage for different illnesses among children was around 90 per cent pre-pandemic. But that number is now hovering around 80 per cent.
“Eighty per cent in a lot of jurisdictions is a decent percentage, but we would like 100 per cent,” said Rubin.
Post-pandemic vaccine lapse
In 2011, more than 700 people were affected by a measles outbreak in Quebec, at a time when vaccination rates were higher than they are now.
Measles vaccination coverage in Montreal is now between 80-85 per cent among kindergarten students, according to Montreal Public Health’s latest estimates.
“What’s going on now, post-pandemic, is that there was a real lapse in people going and getting their vaccines and a lapse in the school visits where they came in and they vaccinated,” said Rubin.
Montreal Public Health’s vaccination campaign aims to help parents:
- Easily find a place to have their children vaccinated;
- Keep inoculation records up to date;
- Get vaccination information from credible sources.
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‘Protocol of Immunization in Quebec
“In the first year of life, there are a number of vaccines,” said Rubin. “One that kind of groups together is against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio and something called Haemophilus influenzae. So that’s all kind of grouped together in one single shot.”
That list gets longer as the child gets older. But Rubin says parents don’t need to worry about which vaccine their child should get, and when.
“The CLSC and the doctors have a schedule that is put out by the Committee of Immunization in Quebec, and it’s written in something called the ‘Protocol of Immunization in Quebec’ or the PIQ. And it’s very standardized at what age to get which vaccine,” he said.
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The situation in Montreal is not an isolated case. The World Health Organization says the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have caused a delay in vaccination programs around the world.
“It make sense that public health is sending out that reminder,” said Rubin. “‘Let’s check that the kids are up to date and if they’re not, let’s do something about it.’”
Parents can make an appointment for routine childhood vaccinations online.
