More than a quarter of New Brunswick kindergarten students did not meet the immunization requirements to enter public school in 2023-24, the latest figures from the Department of Health show.
Only 71.8 per cent of students provided proof of full immunization against nine diseases, including measles, mumps and meningococcal disease, as required under the Public Health Act, according to the School Immunization Program report.
That means nearly 2,000 four- and five-year-olds did not, based on Department of Education data.
Vaccination rates are down from 2022-23, when 73.9 per cent of kindergarten students met the requirements, but up from 61.4 per cent in 2021-22.
The report does not provide vaccination rates for older students and neither department responded to a request for those figures.
Largest measles outbreak in decades
New Brunswick is in the midst of the largest measles outbreak recorded in “several decades.”
Fifty cases of the highly infectious respiratory disease have now been confirmed — all in health Zone 3, which includes Fredericton and parts of the Upper Saint John River Valley area, Department of Health spokesperson Tara Chislett told CBC News Tuesday.
All of the cases can be traced back to the initial one reported Oct. 24, involving a person who recently travelled internationally, Chislett said, and all of them were considered vulnerable because they either never had measles before, were unvaccinated or immunocompromised.
New Brunswick is in the midst of one of the largest measles outbreaks in several decades. Students are supposed to be immunized against the disease — but not all of them are.
“No cases to date are believed to have acquired infection because of a community exposure site,” Chislett said in an emailed statement.
“Although all the recent cases were not necessarily in direct contact with the initial travel-related case, as further spread has occurred through close contact networks, all cases can be linked back to that initial case.”
More than 80 per cent of the infected New Brunswickers are under 19, Chislett said.
Measles is transmitted through the air or by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of an infected person. The virus can linger in the air for hours, and one infected person can spread it to nine out of 10 unprotected people around them.
The New Brunswick outbreak has pushed Canada’s annual case count to 130, which includes the death of child under five in Hamilton, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
In 2023, only 12 measles cases were reported across Canada all year.
Outbreak related to immunization rates
“The current outbreak of measles is directly related to low immunization rates. It’s that simple,” said Ian Culbert, executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association, an independent advocate for public health.
“And it’s really unfortunate because this is an effective vaccine. It is proven to be safe. It is available, it is free. There’s really no barrier stopping parents from having their kids immunized,” he said.
But the immunization report shows that among New Brunswick kindergarten students with incomplete records, 55 per cent were missing the second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine.
The national immunization target is 95 per cent by 2025 to provide so-called herd immunity, where there’s enough community resistance to a disease that it’s unlikely to spread.
Superintendents have discretion with partial records
CBC News requested an interview with the Department of Health last Thursday, but was told no one was available. Instead, Department of Education spokesperson Erika Jutras sent an emailed statement Tuesday on behalf of both departments.
She said the Education Act stipulates that district superintendents “shall refuse admission” to a student starting school for the first time who doesn’t provide “satisfactory proof of the immunizations required” — unless they have a medical exemption or a signed parental objection.
Under Policy 706, the superintendent can refuse to admit a student in cases where “parents provide proof that at least the first vaccine of a series has been received within the previous six months,” Jutras said.
Those students who are admitted receive a 120-day permit and must get their shots within that time frame, she said. If they don’t, they will be “excluded from school.” She did not say for how long and did not respond to questions about district compliance or department oversight.
A number of jurisdictions in Ontario, such as the Waterloo region, have sent suspension warning letters to thousands of elementary and secondary students in recent months and followed through with suspensions.
Culbert said if suspension “is what’s needed in order to get parents to take action, then that is the step that needs to be taken by the school authorities and Public Health.”
Jutras did not say how often New Brunswick students are being suspended, or what either department is doing to improve vaccination uptake among students.
But according to the immunization report, the absence of records does not necessarily mean a child is unvaccinated. It “may be due to non-submission by parents/guardian.”
Proof of immunization required since 1982
Proof of immunization for certain diseases has been a legislated requirement for children entering New Brunswick public schools since 1982.
Under the Public Health Act, these currently include: measles , mumps, rubella, chicken pox, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis or whooping cough, polio and meningococcal.
Although proof is required for all children entering public school for the first time, the department’s immunization report focuses on children eligible for entry into kindergarten.
Children who are home-schooled, enrolled in a private school, or have no school information in the Public Health Information Solution are excluded.
Horizon adds measles vaccination clinics
Primary care providers and Public Health offices can offer the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to eligible New Brunswickers, the Department of Health spokesperson said. This includes children and teens who have not received two doses after turning a year old, and adults born in 1970 or later who never received two doses.
Horizon Health is also hosting additional free vaccination clinics in the Fredericton region this week, including on Thursday, from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at 300 St. Mary’s St.