Toronto's top doctor asks province to make COVID vaccines mandatory for students
CBC
Toronto's top doctor is asking the province to add COVID-19 vaccines to the list of mandatory vaccines for students under the Immunization of School Pupils Act.
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health for Toronto, wrote to the city's board of health this month, asking it to request the province to require COVID-19 vaccination for eligible students based on their age.
In her Sept. 13 letter to the board of health, de Villa referenced the nine other diseases covered under the act, which students enrolled in school must be vaccinated against.
COVID-19 is currently not one of those designated diseases
De Villa wrote in her letter that the safety and effectiveness of approved vaccines has been proven in children 12 and older.
"Given the current epidemiology of COVID-19 and the need to support the safe re-opening of schools, it recommended that the province require COVID-19 vaccination for students who are eligible based on their age/year of birth," she wrote.
Her recommendation came after the chair of the Toronto District School Board, Alexander Brown, requested the Ontario government add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required vaccinations in a letter addressed to de Villa, Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore.
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