Island Health is reminding families of the importance of childhood vaccination, as more families across B.C. are choosing to forgo their children's recommended vaccinations.
"Vaccination rates have been going down and with the vaccine rates going down that increases the rates for certain diseases to increase in our community鈥�" warned Dr. Tribesty Nguyen, resident medical health officer for Island Health. "This is the risk we have if we don't vaccinate our kids."
According to data from the, the measles vaccine has been on a steady decline for the last decade. In 2013, 92 per cent of Island Health children were vaccinated for measles by their seventh birthday. In 2023, that number was only 75 per cent.
Nguyen noted that isn't exclusive to just Island Health, but all B.C. health authorities. In Interior Health the rate dropped from 89 per cent to 66, in Northern Health it dropped from 94 to 77, in Vancouver 台湾MM裸聊室 Health it went from 90 to 79, and in Fraser Health it dropped from 91 to 70 per cent.
"Vaccines are the best way to protect our kids from serious diseases, diseases that can make kids very sick, diseases that can also cause some long-term, long-lasting problems and diseases that can in serious cases lead to death," the doctor said.
Aside from measles, vaccination rates of Vancouver Island children by their seventh birthday for hepatitis B dropped from 91 per cent in 2013 to 85 per cent in 2023, and vaccination rates for mumps dropped from 91 to 75 per cent.
In B.C., families have access to an immunization schedule that starts when a child reaches two months of age, and allows families to simply follow the schedule's guidelines.
In addition to being provided in schools at different grades, families can bring their children to public health units. The Nanaimo Public Health Unit is located at 1665 Grant Ave. and the Princess Royal Family Centre Health Unit is at 80 Chapel St. Pharmacies can also provide vaccinations, as well as some family doctors.
Seasonal vaccinations for influenza and COVID-19 are available to everyone six months or older.
For those who might be hesitant to begin their children's vaccination schedule, Nguyen noted that each vaccination requires multiple approvals before reaching the hands of local health-care providers.
"I would say for folks who are hesitant to know our vaccines are very, very safe. They go through multiple rounds of research, multiple studies that include lots and lots and lots of people. All of the research data gets reviewed not only nationally in Canada, but also provincially in B.C. before they're approved to use with our community members."
When someone does have an adverse reaction to a vaccination, Nguyen said that the once the doctor is informed, they are required to report it to both provincial and national levels for review.
"There's not many things within medicine that has this level of review as vaccines," the doctor said.
