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Chatham

Student immunization deadline coming

The Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit is reminding parents that the deadline to report student immunizations is just around the corner.

Stacy Rybansky, program manager of school health, wants parents to report their children's shots to the health unit by March 3, 2020, to avoid school suspension. She said vaccine records must be complete to protect students who are not vaccinated or under-vaccinated in case of an outbreak at school.

Rybansky said immunization records must be updated by March 3 or a 20-day suspension could follow.

"At this time we still have several hundreds of children that are possibly at risk of being suspended but we are working diligently with the parents and the schools to try and update those records and keep those kids in school," said Rybansky.

Rybansky said students who are suspended and need shots can get them at the health unit.

"If they're being withheld from school they can come to the health unit if they need vaccines and we can provide the shots and update them. We provide them with a rescind order and send them back to school or if a parent calls in their record, we clear them, call the school and the child is able to return to school," she added.

Rybansky said the health unit is not trying to punish anybody, it's only following the law.

"It's not necessarily that every child needs to have a shot or a vaccine or immunization, it could be we just don't hold their record, which we need to hold while they're in school under the Immunization of School Pupils Act," Rybansky said.

Ontario's Immunization of School Pupils Act requires that children and adolescents attending primary or secondary school be appropriately immunized against designated diseases unless they have a valid exemption. Under the act, a child can be exempted from immunization for medical reasons or due to conscience or religious belief.

Students attending primary or secondary school in Ontario must have proof of immunization against Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Meningococcal Disease, Whooping Cough, and Chickenpox for children born in 2010 or later.

Rybansky said the numbers of those at risk of suspension have remained the same over the past few years. She added a letter is usually sent to parents before a suspension is enforced.

Updated records can be emailed to the health unit here. Immunization records can also be faxed, called in or dropped off.

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