Check vaccinations before heading back to school: chief public health officer

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Joss Reimer, is urging parents to ensure their children's routine childhood vaccinations are up to date as they return to school. Although the national measles immunization rate for two-year-olds is about 85 per cent, it is below the 95 per cent needed for herd immunity. Reimer emphasized that measles is still spreading, and vaccine misinformation continues to circulate online.

Most provinces have declared the measles outbreak over, but recent cases have been reported in Manitoba. Children should receive two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine at 12 to 15 months and 18 months, or around the start of school. Reimer advised parents to check their child's vaccine record and contact their primary-care provider or local public health unit if they cannot find it.

Parents should seek evidence-based information on childhood vaccination through public health and medical association websites, as well as the Canadian Paediatric Society. Dr. Reimer believes most parents who are behind on immunizations are not anti-vaccine but may be facing competing priorities and difficulty accessing preventive care.