Vancouver Coastal Health stressing importance of vaccines
Posted July 9, 2013 2:57 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Fewer kindergartners are getting vaccinated against childhood diseases in this province and Vancouver Coastal Health is very concerned about this trend.
A push is now on for children to get their booster shots this summer.
Medical Health Officer Dr. Meena Dawar says the vaccination rate has been declining over the last seven years.
“It’s been going down in general, 11 per cent in Vancouver Coastal and five per cent in British Columbia. We want to let parents know that kindergarten vaccinations are important, last year we had a pertussis outbreak and kids in areas where coverage was the lowest had the highest outbreak of disease,” she explains.
The same can be said for a recent measles outbreak.
She says vaccinations are safe and parents need to speak with a doctor if they have concerns. “Vaccines are tested because we are giving them to healthy kids. We want to keep healthy kids healthy, they have a very high safety threshold.”
There is no fee for these vaccines, they are included in BC’s childhood immunization program.
