Publication date: Sep 18, 2022 • 27 min ago • 4 min read • Join discussion FILE PHOTO: A child receiving a vaccine.

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Routine immunization rates are declining for infants and school-age children in Alberta following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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It’s a trend that chief medical officer of health Dr Dina Hinshaw says has emerged worldwide since the pandemic disrupted routine shots. He said in a recent tweet that the trend could lead to an increased risk of vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio and measles. Sign up to receive daily news headlines from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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Provincial data show declines in vaccination rates for nearly all routine shots in 2021 compared to 2019, before the pandemic began. The number of infants in Alberta who had four doses of the vaccine that protects against diseases such as diphtheria, polio, pertussis and hepatitis B by age two dropped from 78.8 per cent to 74.8 per cent. By age seven, measles-mumps-rubella vaccine coverage dropped from 81 percent to 75.8 percent. The decline was less significant for school-based vaccines such as conjugated meningococcal, where 82.9 per cent of Albertans had the full series by age 17 in 2021, compared with 84.7 per cent two years before.

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The province has redirected many public health resources to fighting COVID-19 over the past two-plus years, said Edmonton pediatrician Dr. Sam Wong. However, he noted that the pandemic may also have overshadowed the usual plans for some parents. “For many parents, everything was about COVID, so people tended to forget routine vaccinations. And with the overtaxing of public health with COVID, I think that’s made it harder to get vaccinations out there in some areas,” said Wong, who also heads the Alberta Medical Association’s division of pediatrics. He said it was possible that in community pockets with low immunization, infectious diseases such as measles or polio could spread more easily. “The concern is that with fewer children being vaccinated, we will see more children with diseases that we thought were preventable.”

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In a statement to Postmedia, Alberta Health spokeswoman Lisa Glover said the province “strongly encourages” families to keep their children’s routine vaccines up to date. Glover said school nurses redeployed to support COVID-19 testing sites helped lower immunization rates. He said work was continuing to strengthen the coverage.

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“We are doing well to catch up and are pleased to see success in increasing rates through a concerted public health effort with the support of schools and parents,” said Glover. “AHS is working with schools to schedule regular school immunization rounds this school year and will continue to reach out to any students who are late.” Alberta Health said Canada has been considered polio-free since 1994 and said they have found no evidence of the virus that causes the disease from routine public health surveillance. Dr. Shannon MacDonald has studied the impact of the pandemic on pediatric vaccination rates in Alberta with a team at the University of Alberta’s school of nursing and school of public health. He said some parents likely avoided public health centers at the start of the pandemic because of concerns about contamination with COVID-19, contributing to the initial drop in infant vaccine coverage.

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That coverage rate has rebounded fairly well, MacDonald said, but it still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, he noted that Alberta’s goal should be to surpass those previous rates. “Our vaccine coverage was not where it needed to be before the pandemic. Our coverage should be at 95 percent for many of these vaccines and some are in the 75 to 80 percent range,” he said. Achieving those numbers requires greater investment in public health efforts, MacDonald said. She said it’s easy enough to get more doses or needles of vaccines, but more public health nurses are needed in clinics. U of A Faculty of Nursing assistant professor Shannon MacDonald. It’s also important that school vaccination efforts target students who are at risk of missing their shots when they graduate high school, where clinics are not held, MacDonald said. All in all, it’s a busy year ahead for public health officials.

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“We have to be careful that we haven’t lost kids who are in high school and we haven’t followed them,” he said. “Public health is very aware of these issues, so they really made it a priority to catch these 9th graders.” Wong’s alarming misinformation and vaccine hesitancy surrounding COVID-19 vaccines is influencing parents’ decisions to complete their children’s routine vaccination schedule. “People go on social media and go down a rabbit hole and don’t talk to their doctors or public health. Instead, they believe many of these untruths, and as a result we see a lot more hesitation,” Wong said. “These vaccinations have been around for decades and have saved countless lives… These are diseases that can be prevented with a simple vaccination, a simple vaccine. And if there are enough people who don’t, then it becomes a community problem, not just an individual one.” [email protected] Twitter: @jasonfherring

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