With kids returning to the classroom next week, the province is reminding you to ensure your child’s vaccination records are up to date.
The fall typically sees a jump in cases of COVID-19, RSV and the flu. You can add the measles to the mix. There are more than 200 confirmed or suspected cases so far this year in the province. That’s something Dr. Brian Conway, medical director of the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre, tells 1130 NewsRadio, is not common.
“This is a year we haven’t seen in pretty much a generation. I think what we’ve seen is, over time, the rate of full vaccination go from 90 per cent or higher, to the 60s, to low 70s, and this is not adequate to protect the entire population over time. We need to get back to where we were. The second shot is due before children begin school in earnest, and we need to have a great effort this school year to show the way going forward. If we get it right this year, we’ll get it right every year going forward, and within a few years, we will have caught,” said Conway.
He adds it’s important to get any shots now before they re-enter bustling classrooms and spend more time with others indoors.
“This is certainly an excellent time to be getting that. If they’ve had a [measles] shot when they were one, this will now provide them with the lifelong immunity that they need.”
“This is a year we haven’t seen in pretty much a generation.”
The flu vaccine isn’t available just yet in B.C., but it is free for most people and easily available at any pharmacy.
“It’ll probably be out sometime between Labour Day and Thanksgiving, and at that point, I think entire families should get vaccinated together. We need to vaccinate 50 per cent of the general population — 70 to 80 per cent of those at highest risk. We fell below that last year.”
Conway is encouraging the public to get both the flu and the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time.
“I think there will be a new vaccine, both Pfizer and Moderna have said there will be an updated vaccine in the fall. Here, it’ll be very important to vaccinate those at highest risk of severe COVID and to selectively vaccinate the rest of the population.”
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He says if you’re on the fence about getting the shot, don’t lean into misinformation; rather, ask a medical professional.
“Make sure that you’re getting answers that are based in fact and not based on assumptions that are essentially made up on social media. Vaccines have been the most significant public health advance of the last two generations. They save lives.”
Dr. Martin Lavoie, BC’s deputy public health officer, says kids under 18 are eligible for publicly funded vaccines against more than a dozen diseases, including measles, chickenpox and polio.
“School-age children are routinely offered the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in Grade 6, and tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and meningitis vaccines in Grade 9 at clinics held in schools. They can also get vaccinated at health units, community health centres, some doctors’ and nurse-practitioners’ offices and some pharmacies,” he says.
The first day of school for many kids in B.C. is Sept. 3rd.
—With files from Anthony Atanasov