Ontario schools suspending students with outdated immunization records

Ontario schools are issuing suspension notices to students who missed key vaccine shots or have an outdated immunization record. Toronto Public Health (TPH) confirmed that more than 10,000 students have been suspended for these reasons since the beginning of this year. Mandatory vaccinations have been a part of Ontario’s public protocols for schools since the passing of the Ontario Immunization of School’s Pupil’s Act. Students must be vaccinated against nine diseases, including measles, rubella, tetanus, polio, and whooping cough. Dr. Vinita Dubey, associate medical officer of health for TPH, said the department is reviewing records for students in Grade 11 for the 2024-25 school year. Grade 11 students have lower immunization rates than other school groups because they missed vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Dubey, only 26% of the assessed students have up-to-date records. That number jumped to 59% after some letters of warning, but the significant amount of students with irregular immunization status forced TPH to start issuing suspension orders. Active suspension began on April 8 and will roll out across Toronto high schools until the end of May. The goal is to help students catch up on their vaccinations and update their records. Those who will do this do not have to complete the 20-day suspension.
School suspensions come as Ontario is battling a large measles outbreak, with more than 600 cases since last fall. University of Toronto Professor of Immunology Tania Watts said that most cases are among unvaccinated individuals and that over 10% of infected persons have required hospitalization. This makes vaccination even more crucial, and Watts approved the suspension of unvaccinated or half-vaccinated students from schools as an effective measure against the outbreak. By the end of the assessment period, TPH hopes that vaccine compliance will exceed 90%, in line with the results of previous years.