Nearly 9K elementary students in Waterloo region with out-of-date vaccination records face suspension
As measles cases continue to rise in Ontario, public health officials in Waterloo region have issued nearly 9,000 suspension orders to elementary school children who don't have up-to-date vaccination records.
In a release sent out Friday, Region of Waterloo Public Health tell families they have five weeks to update vaccination records, get vaccinated or apply for an exemption.
If these steps aren't taken, the 8,981 children who have been contacted by public health will be suspended from school starting April 2.
"Vaccination protects everyone and keeps schools healthy by stopping the spread of serious and preventable disease," Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, Waterloo region's medical officer of health said in the release.
"Children who are not vaccinated are at increased risk of getting infections and spreading diseases to others. The enforcement of the Immunization of School Pupils Act is critical for ensuring the health and wellbeing of our community."
The suspension orders are based on the vaccine records reported on or before Feb. 4. Families can update immunization records on the Region of Waterloo's website under "vaccine reporting."
Largest outbreak of measles in 30 years
The orders comes at a time when 78 new measles cases were identified in Ontario over the course of two weeks.
On Thursday, public health officials called it the largest outbreak the province has seen in almost 30 years.
The new cases bring Ontario's total this year to just over 140, far surpassing the 101 total infections recorded in the province between 2013 and 2023.
The epicentre of Ontario's outbreak has been in the Southwestern and Grand Erie public health regions.
Health officials said the concentration of cases in unvaccinated people could explain how quickly the outbreak spread over the last two weeks.
As a result of the outbreak, 18 kids have been hospitalized in Ontario, including one who required intensive care.
Dr. Sarah Khan, an associate professor in the pediatrics department at McMaster University, said on Thursday that people are at risk because vaccination rates have gone down and it's important that people keep their immunization records up to date.
"It's probably good we all just know our status because if you get that call from public health, they're going to ask you: 'Are you sure you're immune?' And you're going have to provide that proof," Khan said.
"And so, I think it's just better we all kind of check that and get caught up."
Khan said prevention is key to stopping the spread of measles and prevention means vaccination. She said if there is a community that is "entirely non-immune," it will spread rapidly within that community.
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