Thousands of students in the northeast are behind on routine immunizations, say health units

Thousands of students in Sudbury, Ont., are behind on their routine immunizations and hundreds have been suspended, according to Public Health Sudbury and Districts. 

Each year, health units across the province record how many students in their jurisdiction are due for more shots. It's mandated by the Ontario government under the Immunization of School Pupils Act.

The shots are for illnesses like tetanus, polio and meningitis. If students are behind, parents are sent a note giving them a deadline to get vaccinated, before school suspensions are enforced. 

Karly McGibbon is a public health nurse with the health unit. She says the number of suspensions issued this year, so far, is three times higher than in previous years. 

The health unit, she said, has so far sent about 4,100 letters notifying parents that their high school-aged children are due for immunizations. That's led to about 200 suspensions of students who have breached the deadline to get their shots. 

McGibbon said the health unit will begin sending out letters to families of elementary school students in May. She said the health unit expects to send between 4,000 and 4,500. 

The situation is similar in North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, with about 3,100 high school students, 1,566 elementary students and 1,863 Grade 7 and 8 students receiving letters about their immunization status. 

However, the health unit said since sending out the letters, it has managed to immunize nearly 2,000 of those students during in-school clinics.

Marlene Campsall is the manager of the health unit's vaccination program. She said she's not surprised that the numbers have risen. 

"At the outset of the pandemic, we could not co-administer a routine vaccine with a COVID vaccine," Campsall said. 

"So we had to make COVID vaccines a priority because of the pandemic and get as many people immunized as we could. So routine vaccines kind of took a backseat for a bit," she said. 

It's with this in mind that the health unit said it has no plans to issue suspensions until the next school year. 

The Timiskaming Health Unit says it's sent out about 150 letters to parents of Grade 7 and 8 students and about 600 letters to parents of high school students, asking them to consent to their child attending an in-school vaccine clinic. 

The health unit also noted it has no plans to issue suspensions.