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B.C. immunization rates up as demand spikes ease

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Local health authorities aren’t seeing the big spikes in demand for measles vaccines anymore, following outbreaks earlier this year. But rates are still higher compared to this time last year.

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), Fraser Health Authority (FVA), and Island Health say the recent outbreaks in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island prompted many people to get vaccinated or call with questions.

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“When we had active cases of measles, we were really encouraging people to go get immunized and we had a spike in the uptake of vaccine. Now we’re not seeing as many people coming forward to get vaccinated,” VCH officer Dr. Althea Hayden said.

She attributes the decline to the high number of people who did get vaccinated amid the outbreaks and the lack of current outbreaks to remind them.

Although it is hard to calculate exactly how many people were immunized, Hayden said VCH ordered 16,600 doses of MMR vaccine for pharmacies, clinics and hospitals in February, up from around 2,000 for the same month last year.

“We really are continuing well above what we’ve historically done and I think that’s a sign that this message is getting out,” Hayden said.

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Island Health says immunization rates ramped up following the outbreaks and have remained high. So far this year, MMR immunization rates for adults and children on the island doubled from 3,300 to 6,800 over last year, excluding those administered by physicians and pharmacists at private practices or businesses.

“When we had the school-based outbreak in Vancouver, there was a lot of interest from people seeking immunization,” FHA health officer Dr. Andrew Larder said. “We’re still immunizing people whose awareness was raised at that time. That has dropped down as that outbreak ended and people move on.”

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Instead, health authorities are now targeting their approach by directly contacting the families of school-aged children for whom the regions do not have complete immunization records. The provincial Catch-Up Campaign runs until June. Letters are being sent to parents asking them to provide immunization records if their children received vaccinations elsewhere, or giving parents the locations of vaccination clinics.

VCH has reviewed 130,000 electronic records and identified 14,000 students who either don’t have records or only one dose recorded. FHA has reviewed around 21,000 of its 90,000 records and sent out 11,000 letters.

It may be too early to gage the impacts of the campaign as people wait for their letters, according to Hayden,

“The people we’re contacting certainly are showing interest and beginning to come for immunization for measles,” Larder said.

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