With nearly 16,000 unvaccinated BC students receiving measles immunizations since April, the province’s “catch-up program” has so far been a success according to the BC Ministry of Health.
After a measles outbreak swept across North America earlier this year, the Ministry of Health began administering vaccinations and reviewing child immunization records for students between kindergarten to Grade 12.
See also:
- Province announces measles immunization catch-up program in BC schools
- BC “catch-up” immunization program administers over 3,800 measles-containing vaccines in one month
Between April 1 and May 30, 2019, approximately 15,796 children received an immunization booster and 566,106 students’ records were reviewed, with parents/guardians being alerted if their child’s medical history were missing or incomplete.
The province plans to continue the program with 230 in-school clinic visits and 900 public health clinic appointments still scheduled through the end of June.
The catch-up program is part of the government’s plan to increase immunization rates for vaccine-preventable diseases and to improve awareness of the importance of vaccination.
The province also plans to release details on upcoming mandatory reporting of students’ immunization status for September 2019 soon.
From the beginning of 2019 to May 6th, a total of 29 confirmed measles cases were reported in BC with 8 occurring on Vancouver Island.
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