B.C.’s Health minister is reporting a dramatic rise in measles, mumps, and rubella vaccinations in the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap.
Adrian Dix says in the region, which includes Kamloops, there has been a stunning increase in vaccination numbers year over year.
“It is a 771 per cent increase over the same period last year,” he said. “Last year there were a 149 immunizations in school age children from April to June. This year that number is 1,299 which is an extraordinary increase. In Kamloops alone 59 students from K to 12 immunized in this period in 2018. This year it was 739 students.”
Dix says the vaccination debate gets too much attention and instead health care teams did the hard work to ensure people that were informed and able to get vaccinated.
He says the requirement for students this fall to bring their immunization records to school will help keep the momentum going.