Latest news with #antiVaccineMovement
National Post
08-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
Only 7 in 10 Ontario kids vaccinated against measles, rates falling elsewhere. Here's why
Public confidence in vaccines has dipped since COVID's first surges, the proportion of parents 'really against' routine childhood immunizations has grown and one third of Canadians believe the discredited claim that the measles vaccine causes autism, surveys show. Article content That percolating pushback is contributing to gaps in immunization coverage: only seven out of 10 kids aged seven in Ontario were reported to be fully immunized against measles in the 2023-24 school year. Rates plummeted below 50 per cent in some health units, despite catch-up programs to deal with a backlog of children who missed shots during COVID disruptions. Article content The gaps threaten to widen and feed a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases like the ongoing outbreak of measles, say those who study the phenomenon. Article content Article content But vaccine hesitancy goes beyond autism. The motives of parents opting out are 'often far more complex and nuanced than the pro-side would like to admit,' according to the authors of a recently-published paper on English-speaking Canada's growing anti-vaccine movement. Article content It may make for a quicker and easier narrative to say it's all about misinformation and a notoriously flawed study that was eventually withdrawn, 'and convince people that it was a mistake and that there is nothing to be concerned about,' said co-author and University of Guelph historian Catherine Carstairs. Article content However, 'it's become much grittier and more complicated, and maybe requires different kinds of interventions,' she said. Article content Growing vaccine hesitancy, and outright refusal, is also symbolic of a broader issue, said the University of Alberta's Timothy Caulfield — 'the rise of an anti-science ethos that is impacting society.' Article content The controversies and polarizations surrounding the COVID vaccines also had an ideological spillover effect on vaccines more generally, Caulfield said. In the U.S., political liberals became more positive towards non-COVID shots like MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), influenza and chickenpox while conservatives became more negative. Article content Ontario has now claimed more measles cases since last fall than all of the United States. So far, the majority have been concentrated in specific health units, but measles is so highly infectious it can easily leak out to vulnerable pockets with less-than-optimal vaccination rates. Article content Article content As criticism of Ontario's handling of the outbreak intensifies, Premier Doug Ford Wednesday said getting children vaccinated against measles is a 'no-brainer' and that the province has sufficient supplies of vaccines available. 'I encourage anyone and everyone,' Ford told reporters. 'You need to get your kids vaccinated, because if not it just starts spreading.' Article content 'I'm happy that (local public health units) are able to keep the numbers to 100 to 150 Ontarians that are getting infected on a weekly basis. To me that's tremendous, hard and difficult work,' he told Radio-Canada.
CTV News
07-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
As Ontario tops 1,200 measles cases, experts warn under-immunized B.C. communities at risk
With Canada experiencing its worst year for measles in decades, there are growing concerns for B.C. children living in under-immunized communities. While there have only been eight confirmed measles infections across the province so far this year, neighbouring Alberta has recorded 210 – and Ontario has seen 1,243, including 98 that resulted in hospitalization, since October. There is no reason similar outbreaks couldn't happen locally, according to Dr. Jia Hu of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. 'What's really driving the outbreaks in Alberta, Ontario is that you have measles entering into very unimmunized communities,' said Hu. 'In Ontario, they have communities where the immunization rates are close to zero.' B.C. has its own 'pockets' of low vaccination uptake, Hu noted, including in the Fraser Valley and Interior regions. 'I wouldn't say that our rates are generally higher than Ontario's,' he added. Provincially, the vaccination rate among seven-year-olds was 72.4 per cent in 2023, the latest year for which data is available. That's down from a rate of 90.9 per cent a decade earlier, before the anti-vaccine movement grew in popularity, including on social media. Worst year since 1998 Just a few days into May, Canada has already recorded more measles cases nationwide than it has since 1998, when the disease was declared eliminated in the country. A measles death in Ontario last year also marked Canada's first in 34 years. Hu said the best thing parents can do if they're concerned about their children being exposed to measles is to get them vaccinated. 'Vaccination is both very effective and offers life-long protection,' he said. 'Two doses are close to 100 per cent effective in protecting against measles – even one dose is about 85 to 95 per cent effective.' According to the B.C. Center for Disease Control, it can take up to three weeks post-exposure for a patient to show measles symptoms. Those can include fever, dry cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed days later by a rash that begins at the hairline and spreads rapidly down the body. Officials have asked that anyone suspected to be suffering from measles inform their health-care provider before heading into a clinic, so precautions can be taken to prevent further spread. 'Measles is a serious infectious disease,' Hu said. 'It doesn't just cause the rash and the fever and the cough – it can lead to complications like pneumonia and hospitalization and brain swelling.' Parents unsure of their children's immunization status can check through B.C.'s Health Gateway, or by contacting their family doctor.
CTV News
07-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
As Ontario nears 1,400 measles cases, experts warn under-immunized B.C. communities at risk
With Canada experiencing its worst year for measles in decades, there are growing concerns for B.C. children living in under-immunized communities. While there have only been eight confirmed measles infections across the province so far this year, neighbouring Alberta has recorded 210 – and Ontario has seen 1,383, including 98 that resulted in hospitalization. There is no reason similar outbreaks couldn't happen locally, according to Dr. Jia Hu of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. 'What's really driving the outbreaks in Alberta, Ontario is that you have measles entering into very unimmunized communities,' said Hu. 'In Ontario, they have communities where the immunization rates are close to zero.' B.C. has its own 'pockets' of low vaccination uptake, Hu noted, including in the Fraser Valley and Interior regions. 'I wouldn't say that our rates are generally higher than Ontario's,' he added. Provincially, the vaccination rate among seven-year-olds was 72.4 per cent in 2023, the latest year for which data is available. That's down from a rate of 90.9 per cent a decade earlier, before the anti-vaccine movement grew in popularity, including on social media. Worst year since 1998 Just a few days into May, Canada has already recorded more measles cases nationwide than it has since 1998, when the disease was declared eliminated in the country. A measles death in Ontario last year also marked Canada's first in 34 years. Hu said the best thing parents can do if they're concerned about their children being exposed to measles is to get them vaccinated. 'Vaccination is both very effective and offers life-long protection,' he said. 'Two doses are close to 100 per cent effective in protecting against measles – even one dose is about 85 to 95 per cent effective.' According to the B.C. Center for Disease Control, it can take up to three weeks post-exposure for a patient to show measles symptoms. Those can include fever, dry cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed days later by a rash that begins at the hairline and spreads rapidly down the body. Officials have asked that anyone suspected to be suffering from measles inform their health-care provider before heading into a clinic, so precautions can be taken to prevent further spread. 'Measles is a serious infectious disease,' Hu said. 'It doesn't just cause the rash and the fever and the cough – it can lead to complications like pneumonia and hospitalization and brain swelling.' Parents unsure of their children's immunization status can check through B.C.'s Health Gateway, or by contacting their family doctor.
