By Mandy Vocke

Protection against outbreaks

Parents and guardians required to provide immunization records to schools

Jun 29, 2019 | 8:28 AM

BRITISH COLUMBIA— The BC government says public health officials will start reviewing school enrolment records of Kindergarten to Grade 12 students to ensure children are vaccinated. The Province is implementing this mandatory reporting requirement through the Vaccination Status Reporting Regulation.

The Health Ministry says officials will do their review between August and October, contacting parents if their children are not up to date on the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the goal of the first year of the reporting requirement will be to get children caught up on vaccinations by the end of the school year.

“Starting this school year, parents and guardians will be expected to provide the immunization status of their children to their local public health unit,” Dix says. “This mandatory reporting of the immunization status of students will ensure the public health system is prepared in the event of an outbreak. Furthermore, with the up-to-date records, public health can reach out to families with children behind on their immunizations and provide an opportunity to catch them up, as well as discuss any concerns with parents.”

Most parents are already in compliance with the requirement, so they won’t need to do anything further for the new school year. Parents or guardians with an incomplete or missing record will be contacted by public health on how to provide their child’s immunization information if it’s needed. They will then receive information on upcoming school-based or community health clinics where their child can receive immunizations if they require them.

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Mandatory reporting is part of an ongoing attempt to increase immunization rates for all vaccine-preventable diseases. The effort commenced with the measles immunization catch-up program in April.