Thousands of Hamilton students behind on immunizations because of COVID-19

Thousands ofHamilton students are behind on vaccinations because of COVID-19, according to public health officials who hopehiring more nurses will help them catch up on the backlog.

Roughly 5,700 students enter Grade 7 every year where they get meningococcal, hepatitis Band HPV shots, explained Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, the city's medical officer of health.

About 83 per cent of last year's cohort have received themeningococcalvaccine, but officials estimate the vast majority have fallen behind on the other two, which require a pair ofseparate does.

"We've got almost 5,000 students who are short of their hepatitis Band 5,600 who are short on HPV," said Richardson.

"We are a little concerned about the delays that are happening as people are trying to get vaccinated," she added.

Primary healthcare providers and public health are working to provide the shots with in-person visits starting back up and special catch-up clinics but, with the added PPE, the process is slower than it would be outside a pandemic.

Richardson said the ministry of education and school boards are working with public health units on a strategy for the fall. With a new group of 5,700 studentssoonarriving at Hamilton high schools,it's too early to say exactly what that plan will look like.

One possibility is using new public health nurses hired to help in schools because of the virus, to help administer the shots.

"We've got a lot of work to do," she said.

Making sure students in Grade 7 have their immunizationsup to date is especially important because they're about to enter a period of life where they'll be at higher risk, said the doctor. The fact that flu season is quickly approaching is another reason to ensure vaccinations happen sooner, rather than later.

"We tend to forget about all of these, what we call, vaccine-preventable diseases because we've done such a great job of controlling them and just how severe they can be and the consequences," said Richardson.

"It's really important that those vaccines get caught up."

More nurses coming

Whendaycares and schools started to close because of the virus experts worried about a possible surge in vaccine-preventable illnesses such aswhooping cough and measles.

The Canadian Paediatric Society evenurgedfamily physicians and other clinicians to ensure young patients don't miss their vaccines.

However, public health hasn'tnoticed any uptick in those illnesses.

Local officials are still waiting on the province to firm up funding, but Richardson said Hamilton was estimated to need 19 more nurses in schools because of COVID-19, on top of the 21 working already.

The new nurses will answer questions about screening and infection prevention and control.

"We're working hard to get people into those positions," she said. "We want to have people there to support the schools as they reopen."