School vaccination programs play catch-up

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This article was published 14/10/2020 (1490 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pediatricians and public health nurses are playing catch-up with vaccines, so thousands of Manitoba schoolchildren don’t miss the shots that were put off when in-person learning was cancelled in the springtime.

In mid-April, given the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions, provincial officials informed families school immunization programs were being postponed for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. Province-wide, the annual programs encourage high vaccine uptake among students.

The temporary pause left thousands of grades 6 and 8 students — of which, combined, there are upwards of 31,000 in total in the province — in limbo.

As part of the annual programs, Grade 6 students are eligible to receive two doses of both the hepatitis B (HepB) vaccine and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, as well as one dose of meningococcal vaccine, all free of charge through the program.

Grade 8 students can receive a free booster dose of the Tdap vaccine to protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough. Depending on the region and make-up of schools, some programs offer the shots to Grade 9s.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Public Health said in a statement planning for the programs is ongoing and varies by health region, with some having already caught up students during the summer months. In others, planning is underway to deliver catch-up vaccines throughout 2020-21.

“With the evolving pandemic and increased response capacity required, plans have adjusted and shifted accordingly, and continue to do so. As is always the case, parents can contact their child’s primary care provider to have their child immunized at any time,” the spokesperson added.

Dr. Michele Feierstein, a pediatrician, said she and her colleagues at the Manitoba Clinic have been busier than usual with immunizations in recent months, given the scheduling disruptions.

Feierstein said it’s a doctor’s responsibility to ensure their patients’ immunizations are up-to-date.

“The pediatricians at my clinic, we’re just catching them up whenever they come in. We’re more than happy to give them. We’re giving them everyday,” said Feierstein, noting an entire cohort of students missed their booster shots.

The Winnipeg-based doctor said second doses of the shots prescribed in Grade 6 are supposed to be administered within six months. Should students be immunized with boost vaccines for HepB or HPV after one year, she said they might require a full series re-do to boost antibodies.

This year’s regularly-scheduled school vaccination programs are already underway.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie