Suspension notices will be issued to students without up-to-date vaccinations

Approximately 1,000 suspension notices are expected to go out this spring as Hastings Prince Edward Public Health will target students aged seven to 17 whose immunization records are not up-to-date.

Two thousand early notices have been sent to students in these age groups reminding them to update their vaccinations. The board was told it’s likely that less than 100 students will end up being suspended from school for non-compliance.

The HPEPH board received a presentation Wednesday with regard to its administration of the Ontario Immunization of School Pupils Act in this region.

According to the Act, Ontario students must be immunized or in the process of becoming immunized – unless they have been legally exempted – against nine designated diseases.

The Act permits a Medical Officer of Health to order the suspension from school of any student who has failed to become immunized and is not exempt.

“We estimate that approximately 1,000 suspension notices will go out in the spring,” said Bill Sherlock, Vaccine Preventable Disease Program Manager at HPEPH. “It’s likely that less than 100 students will be suspended from school for non-compliance.”

HPEPH has set up a number of special student immunization clinics in Bancroft, Belleville, Picton
and Trenton. Check the calendar at www.hpepublichealth.ca for further information.

“Thirty years ago, we saw large disease outbreaks in schools,” added Dr. Schabas. “Since this legislation was introduced, we no longer see outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases in our schools.”