After routine childhood vaccinations fell during the pandemic, public health officials across the country are working to get Canadian students back up to date on immunizations for serious yet preventable diseases.
In southwestern Ontario’s Waterloo region alone, public health officials said they sent letters to the families of 32,000 elementary and secondary school students, about a third of pupils in the region’s public and Catholic schools, notifying them that they are at risk of suspension over incomplete immunization records for preventable diseases like measles, chickenpox and whooping cough.
When public health staff introduced COVID-19 testing and vaccinations during the pandemic in 2020, routine immunization programs for students
