High schools suspend 591 students over vaccination records

Local high schools briefly suspended 591 students Wednesday for failing to update their vaccination records, a number lower than expected.

Within four hours, suspensions fell to 369 students, after parents who disregarded warnings scrambled to provide immunization records. Suspensions are expected to drop to a few stragglers by Friday.

"We recognize that it feels like the heavy hand of public health," said Linda Black, who helps fight vaccine-preventable diseases for the regional public health department. "Each year we get people that are not happy with us, that we're doing this."

But the cumbersome annual exercise will help public health cope with any outbreak, she said.

"Diseases are still present all over the world. And we live in a global village. We see the opportunity for diseases to come back in our communities. And if we lapse in our coverage rates, that's exactly what will happen," Black said.

"Is it a scare campaign? No. It's a campaign though. It's getting the word out that immunizations are still important."

Ontario requires students to be immunized against a number of diseases or provide documented exemptions. Proof of immunization must be provided directly to public health, or students risk being suspended for up to 20 days.

Wednesday's high school suspensions match the number last seen in 2014. Public health expected a surge, after skipping suspensions in 2015, and after elementary suspensions almost doubled this year. "We were pleasantly surprised," Black said.

A stronger notification effort at high schools seems to have helped limit suspensions. Publicity about soaring elementary suspensions may have helped. Authorities will try to repeat the notification effort next year for all students and schools.

In total this year, the region suspended 1,522 students for not updating vaccination records, almost two per cent of students at public and Catholic school boards.

Ontario intends to track immunization records electronically, which should reduce suspensions, but it has not provided a timeline.

Students 16 or older, or parents of students 15 and younger, can contact their health-care provider to get their records. Documented vaccine exemptions are allowed for medical reasons or for reasons of conscience or religion.

www.therecord.com/news-story/6550211-high-schools-suspend-591-students-over-vaccination-records/