Measles vaccination rates in Canada have decreased, PHAC says amid global concern
Global News
There are currently no active cases of measles in Canada but the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted vaccination programs in the country.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says it shares the concerns raised by international health experts this week of the renewed risk of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases among children.
In a statement to Global News Thursday, the agency noted intake of the measles vaccine in Canada has gone down over the past several years, but pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine hesitancy among some parents as reasons for a current decline in vaccinations.
“Canada’s provinces and territories have indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in disruptions, delays and gaps in routine vaccinations for children,” the statement read.
There are currently no active cases of measles in the country but three cases have been reported this year, according to the latest report by PHAC.
A joint report published Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that measles is an “imminent” global threat because of declining vaccine coverage and weakened surveillance of the disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report noted that in 2021, a record high of nearly 40 million children around the world had missed a dose of the measles vaccine as the pandemic disrupted and delayed routine immunization programs.
“It’s very concerning,” Shelly Bolotin, director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases at the University of Toronto, told Global News on Thursday.
“When coverage is down globally, it’s a concern to all of us because we live in a globalized world, and measles importations do come in from other countries on occasion.”
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