Latest news with #VinitaDubey
Hamilton Spectator
08-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Toronto Public Health is starting to suspend students over their vaccine records. Here's what to do if you've received a letter
Toronto Public Health has started to issue suspensions to some of the thousands of Toronto high school students whose records aren't up to date on required vaccinations. In a statement, the agency said over 10,000 Grade 11 students born in 2008 aren't caught up on immunizations in accordance with Ontario's Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA). TPH is gradually rolling out these suspension orders, starting with 21 secondary schools, from which an initial group of 173 pupils were suspended Tuesday — a number that has since decreased to 131, according to Dr. Vinita Dubey. Dubey, TPH's associate medical officer of health, told the Star on Wednesday the decline in the suspensions is due to more vaccinations or valid exemptions being reported after the initial suspension orders. As of Wednesday, of a second group of students from another 20 public Toronto high schools, 268 Grade 11 students are being suspended. 'Every day there's going to be more and more students who will be suspended. And hopefully more and more students who will also come off the suspension list,' she said. Suspensions will be sent across Toronto post-secondary schools on a rolling schedule until May. TPH says from the first batch of students at the 21 schools, the records of 957 students — about 70 per cent — weren't up to date at first, which means they received a letter from TPH about the missing vaccinations. A month later, 58 per cent were up to date. The remaining 574 students were sent suspension orders. Ontario is experiencing one of its largest measles outbreaks in decades though most recent vaccine suspensions are related to other diseases . The ISPA requires students to be vaccinated for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease and pertussis (whooping cough). Students must also receive the vaccine for varicella — commonly known as chickenpox — if they're born in 2010 or later. Under this act, immunizations for the nine diseases are mandatory unless a valid exemption is on file, for medical, religious or conscientious reasons. Failure to meet these requirements could lead to a suspension from school for up to 20 days. During the COVID-19 pandemic, routine school-based vaccination programs for Grade 7 students were mostly unavailable, resulting in a number of current Grade 11 students falling behind on vaccinations for hepatitis B, HPV and meningococcal vaccines. Dubey said it's normal for parents and students to take a while to respond to these letters due to factors including language barriers for newcomers and situations when parents don't recognize 'this is something that has to be dealt with right away, or even that there's a suspension associated with this.' The agency doesn't just rely on the letter to inform parents but also sends the suspension list to principals to contact students' parents. Immunization assessments were conducted by TPH starting in the fall, revealing that of the 24,678 students born in 2008, only 26 per cent were initially on record with their vaccinations, prompting the agency to send letters to the families of 18,320 students missing immunizations. By February, 59 per cent of students were up to date — but the remaining 10,000 who didn't meet the ISPA got notices that if they didn't provide updated information to TPH, they would be suspended. Dubey said sometimes the onus is on parents to contact TPH to provide a child's up-to-date immunization record to avoid suspension, even if their child has already received their required vaccines. This is because sometimes TPH doesn't have all records or the child might be missing a booster dose. 'What parents don't recognize is their child may be fully vaccinated and they did the right thing and they got the vaccination,' she said. 'But unfortunately, there's no way for the physician to report the vaccination directly to public health. And so this is where the parent actually has to report the vaccination to us,' she said, adding that they're 'better off' contacting TPH to make sure the record is up to date. TPH says this 'underscores the importance of an electronic immunization registry .' TPH can help clarify to parents what vaccines their children are missing and Dubey says 'as long as we know that the child has started the process of getting vaccinations, we can pause the suspension.' Parents and students can call TPH (416-338-7600) for questions.
CBC
08-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Ontario schools begin suspending students who aren't fully vaccinated
Ontario schools are starting to issue suspensions to some of the thousands of students who aren't fully vaccinated, as the spread of measles continues, giving new urgency to calls for the province to digitize its immunization record system. Toronto Public Health says about 10,000 students are not up to date on their vaccinations, and an initial group of 173 students in Grade 11 will be suspended Tuesday. A total of 574 students were sent suspension orders, which will continue to roll out across Toronto high schools until May. TPH says students can avoid suspension and return to school by showing proof of vaccination or completing a valid exemption. Dr. Vinita Dubey, Toronto's associate medical officer of health, expects "compliance will exceed 90 per cent" after all the notices are sent out. Current Grade 11 students missed out on school-based vaccinations in Grade 7 due to the COVID 19 pandemic, she added. "Toronto Public Health's goal is to help students catch up on their vaccinations and avoid missing school, and it continues to offer support to improve immunization coverage across the city," Dubey said in a statement on Tuesday. Ottawa Public Health says approximately 15,000 notices of incomplete immunization records were handed out to students in mid-January, and suspensions are taking place from March to May. In Waterloo, more than 1,600 students were suspended last week. Ontario urged to set up electronic registry Under the Immunization of School Pupils Act, students must be vaccinated against various diseases including measles, whooping cough and tetanus. However, most people in the province still track their shots on paper, which the Ontario Immunization Advisory Committee is encouraging the Ministry of Health to change. The committee said in a position statement that it "strongly urges" the province to develop an electronic immunization registry, which would replace the current method of keeping track of shots on yellow paper. That statement was published in September, says Dr. Jeffrey Pernica, co-chair of the committee. Yet it's only getting major attention now because of measles. "It took a measles outbreak to really highlight why it's good for individuals to be able to know what vaccines they've received," says Pernica, adding that there would be far fewer suspensions if an electronic immunization registry existed. Ottawa-based Dr. Kumanan Wilson has been advocating for the change since 2011, when he launched an app to track vaccinations. He's hopeful measles might be the push that the provinces needs to pivot to a digital system. The outbreak has infected 661 people in Ontario, primarily unvaccinated children. Because it is one of the most contagious diseases in the world, it requires vaccination coverage of about 95 per cent. "Small gaps in knowledge on vaccination coverage can result in outbreaks," Wilson said. Suspensions may be due to lack of records, doctor says At the moment, the immunization data the province has collected is mostly limited to school-aged children. Wilson says that means data on infants to six-year-olds is not comprehensive, of particular significance with measles, which has resulted in the hospitalization of 42 children. Wilson says lack of appropriate record-keeping might also be leading to the student suspensions. "It may not even be anti-vaccination attitudes. It may just be that people don't know." Ontario's measles outbreak has drawn international attention with health officials in New York issuing a travel advisory last week that noted the province's spread.
