The past year has seen confirmed outbreaks of measles across in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.
Measles is highly contagious, and can lead to serious complications and death for children under the age of five. It is strongly recommended by the Public Health Agency of Canada that children are routinely vaccinated against measles through two doses of the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine.
While vaccines protect the individuals who have been vaccinated, they can also help protect a community from the spread of infectious diseases when over a certain threshold of the population has been vaccinated. This concept is known as ‘herd immunity’, and provides protection for those who are not yet vaccinated.
The routine vaccination schedule varies among provinces and territories, with children receiving vaccinations from the age of about 2 months up until six years.
However, not all children are vaccinated. Some have medical conditions, such as allergies to some vaccine components or immune disorders. However there are growing numbers of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children for ideological or religious reasons.
A 2010 Ontario study found that the rate of students with exemptions for school entry vaccination is less than 2 percent, although it noted rising rates of non-medical exemptions amongst children born since 1998. This was the year that the Lancet published a (now refuted) study linking the MMR vaccine to autism. Although the study was based on fraudulent data, it received widespread media attention and publicity, and is described as sparking “an international crisis of confidence in the safety of the MMR vaccine”
Only three Canadian provinces have mandatory school entry vaccination laws
Schools are a particularly important setting where infectious diseases can be passed among children.
In Canada only Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick have legislation that mandates children be vaccinated in order to attend school. The Ontario and New Brunswick legislation, both of which have been in place since 1982, are quite extensive and require school children to be vaccinated against diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, rubella, mumps, varicella (chicken pox) and meningococcal disease. The Manitoba legislation only requires school children be vaccinated against measles.
However, in each province with mandatory school entry laws there are exemption clauses for children who are not vaccinated due to medical, religious or ideological reasons. To opt out, parents must sign and notarize an affidavit with a statement of these beliefs. Statements of medical exemptions must be provided to schools by a physician or nurse practitioner.
Judy MacDonald, Medical Officer of Health for Calgary notes that Alberta has no legislation in place to mandate that children show proof of vaccination to enter school. However, she highlights that the province’s Public Health Act requires that in an outbreak “the Medical Officer of Health must exclude children at schools if they aren’t immune to measles [have not received the measles vaccine].”
The Alberta approach is in line with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s guidelines around managing a measles outbreak. The guideline states that during a measles outbreak, those who refuse or cannot receive the MMR vaccine “may be excluded from childcare facilities, schools and post secondary educational institutions at the discretion of the Medical Office of Health.” This exclusion period is meant to quarantine the non-vaccinated child and to reduce the chances that she or he will catch or transmit the infection to others.
However, given recent measles outbreaks there has been debate – and demand from some parents – that school entry vaccination requirements should be put in place in those provinces and territories that do not have them.
Kumanan Wilson, a general internist and Chair in Public Health Policy at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, notes that there tend to be two groups of parents who are choosing not to vaccinate their children.
The first are those who have a belief strongly opposing vaccinations, and who will seek out exemptions to the mandatory requirements. He says that the second group is best described as ‘vaccine hesitant’ parents who either “delayed or forgot about their children’s vaccination” and suggests that it is among these parents “where mandatory policies can have an influence.”
‘Vaccine hesitancy’ among Canadian parents
A 2011 report to the Canadian Public Health Agency of Canada surveyed parents’ attitudes towards vaccines. It found that while nine in ten parents believe childhood vaccinations in general are effective and important for their child’s health, 35% expressed concerns about the safety of vaccines and half of parents reported speaking to a health care provider regarding their worries about vaccination.
In 2013, the Canadian Pediatric Society released guidelines to help clinicians have evidence-based conversations with parents who are hesitant or have safety concerns about vaccines.
A Healthy Debate series published in September 2012 noted that these concerns have translated into decreasing vaccination rates for Canadian children with public health officials finding communicating the benefits of vaccines to parents a challenge. The series also highlighted that there are significant information gaps about vaccination rates, and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases in Canada.
Catherine Mah, a pediatrician and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health says that “more surveillance data breaking down the populations who are not getting vaccinated, or opting out of vaccination policies would be helpful for prevention and planning.” She notes that in the United States there is a centrally coordinated national immunization registry through the US Centre for Disease Control that tracks vaccination data of children across the country.
Experts have highlighted that unlike Canada, all American states have laws (with some variation around specific vaccinations) that mandate children entering school to provide proof of vaccinations. However, studies have shown that there has also been an increase in non-medical exemptions from vaccination requirements in the United States.
In spite of growing exemption rates – seen among populations with strong ideological or religious beliefs – Wilson still sees these laws as an effective tool, in particular for vaccine hesitant parents, or those who forgot or neglected to vaccinate their children according to the schedule. He notes that for some, the mandatory school entry vaccination policies can be “a fail safe mechanism for those who fell through the cracks.”
Can exclusion policies effectively contain outbreaks?
Wilson also questions the value of exclusion policies in curbing the spread of infectious diseases. He says that for measles in particular “which is among the most infectious of the vaccine preventable diseases, it is too little too late, and by the time children are taken out of the school they would have already spread the disease.”
There are significant logistical challenges associated with enforcing exclusion policies and accessing documentation during an outbreak to demonstrate that children have received the two doses of the MMR vaccine. Judy MacDonald says that trying to ascertain proof of vaccination for all students in a school is “very labour intensive and time sensitive.”
Mah highlights that when an outbreak occurs, and responsibility to manage outbreaks and enforce exclusion policies is “decentralized to local authorities such as public health units” as is the case in Alberta, strong communication is needed to coordinate and manage the situation.
In Alberta there has been a great deal of media and public attention around the recent measles outbreak with regular updates on the location of measles cases and outbreaks.
Raphael Sharon, an Edmonton pediatrician notes that he speaks to parents “everyday about the safety and efficacy of these vaccines.” He suggests that growing public concern and conversation about measles has influenced parents who are vaccine hesitant. He suggests that “because of the measles outbreak, more parents are bringing in their kids to get vaccinated.”
Concerns about the ability of exclusion policies to contain outbreaks have motivated some parents to call on provincial governments to add mandatory vaccine legislation.
The ethics of mandatory vaccinations for children
In British Columbia, a group of parents have received media attention for starting a petition calling on Premier Christy Clark to introduce mandatory school entry vaccination requirements.
The petition argues that “as of right now schools do not ask if your child is vaccinated. Which means they have no idea how many are covered in their school …If they have this information they will know if someone is putting everyone (including their own child) at risk by ignoring the policy to stay home during an outbreak.”
Perry Kendall, the Chief Medical Officer of Health in BC has been quoted in the media that while he “supports the intentions of the petition” he does not believe that “making vaccinations mandatory is a way to achieve that aim.” Kendall notes that outbreaks in BC have been concentrated amongst certain congregations of anti-vaccination religious communities, and that these communities would be best served by education around the benefits of vaccination, rather than mandatory laws.
Healthy Debate has covered the issues of the ethics and politics of mandatory vaccinations for health care workers. In the case of children, there are challenging and value-based issues related to who has the right to decide whether children should be vaccinated – parents or the state.
Parents who are hesitant about vaccinations are often “trying to balance a decision between perceived risks of harm of a vaccine, and the risks of the actual disease” says Mah. She notes, however that this “very personal set of choices does influence other people’s children.”
Studies have found that children with non-medical exemptions are at increased risk of acquiring and transmitting vaccine preventable diseases. Measles outbreaks tend to occur in schools with more unvaccinated children, and unvaccinated children are 35 times more likely to contract measles as their vaccinated peers.
Kumanan Wilson says “there is no easy answer here and you have to respect an individual’s rights – however, when it is in relation to children, and other children are being put at risk, that is when tension arises.”
“Vaccination is a moral and social obligation on all of us so that we can protect those who can’t” says Raphael Sharon. When speaking to parents about vaccinating their children, he stresses that “not vaccinating doesn’t just pose potential health risks to your child, but also to those who can’t defend themselves from infectious diseases – in particular children under 12 months who haven’t yet received the MMR vaccine, and immunocompromised patients of any age. These vulnerable people count on the so-called herd immunity for protection.”
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Please look up the word FREEDOM.
Polio may be gone but what is spinal meningitis? Same affliction just a different name since the vaccinated individual could NEVER have polio,right?
why are parents whose children are in school worried about an unvaccinated child , if theirs is?
could it be that they’re angry when their child DOES come down with measles (atypical is harsher and affects only vaccinated) even when they’ve had their shots?
How could a unvaccinated child pose a danger to all the other children who are?
why is it always the ones who DO vaccinate that are so worried about the ones who don’t. Do they not have faith in the vaccine?
No one should be forced to vaccinate to attend school. If that were the case, and they still choose not to, then they should also be exempt from paying school taxes as well, since their child is being denied access.
Hi Mary,
Just to answer your question about why people who do vaccinate are worried about low vaccination rates, some vaccines are around 95% effective. That means they don’t work in 5% of people who are vaccinated. If everyone is vaccinated, this 5% are much less likely to contract disease, compared to if, say, 70% of people are vaccinated.
Best,
Wendy
To start, my kids are vaccinated butI don’t agree with mandatory vaccinations Where would forced vaccinations end new vaccines are created daily?
and to question the efficacy
I was fully vaccinated, I still contracted Measles, Mumps and Rubella all at different times so I don’t know how effective they were for me.
I guess It will all end with the elderly being euthanized when they become a financial burden on government resources because the pension fund was mismanaged.
I think if it get made mandatory and it be made that kids can’t come to school if not many kids would just not go to public school anymore.
I’m thinking that if I send my child who is not vaccinated into a school of vaccinated children It would be only my child at risk. How can a parent that has vaccinated their child have any concerns about a child who has not? What would be the point of getting vaccinated if we can’t trust that it will work on. Those children that have been vaccinated?
Hi Sherri, no vaccine is 100% effective. For example, 3% of children don’t gain immunity to measles despite two doses of the MMR vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control. So on average, if all children in a class of 35 received two MMR shots, one child in that class wouldn’t have immunity to measles. But if that one vaccinated child who doesn’t have immunity to measles is in a class with many children who are unvaccinated, that vaccinated child is at a much greater risk of contracting measles.
What happened to FREEDOM? Now you can take your child to the hospital and your child is taken away from you because you wanted a second opinion.
Doctors don’t all agree on everything. Where do you get the idea that medicine is based on black and white science?
What I want to hear from the provaxers – is we need debate on TV and radio between the antivaxers and the provaxers. Lots of debate. Because if your side is right, it will stand up to open debate.
You convince the antivaxers to get vaccinated. You don’t take away people’s freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, and personal freedom by making vaccines mandatory.
Americans just won their petition against the White House and the Obama group. They now have freedom of choice to vaccinate their children. I say that Canada gets with the program and says the same thing!
Yes. Many people today in westernized countries have no idea how contagious measles, mumps, or rubella are since due to having great vaccination programs have resulted in eliminating or reducing the impact of these diseases. My mother made sure my siblings and me were vaccinated. I made sure my children were vaccinated. Yes, those with medical issues would need a signed form from a doctor exempting them from getting the shots required to attend school.
For a country that seems to pride itself on being ProChoice, I find it shocking that this topic even comes up. The whole purpose of allowing people to do what they feel is best for their body and those of their dependent children is going to be undermined by this type of thinking. This could be the beginning of our loss of personal freedoms that have been fought for over the last century: abortion, gay/lesbian marriages, female equality, education, religion. It’s a slippery slope. I don’t really want to debate the efficacy of immunizations. I just want to keep the freedoms that we have earned and these freedoms are what make Canada a great place to live. I believe that allowing people to choose whether to vaccinate or not, is one of these freedoms.
There are so many comparisons going on with vaccinations and then this comparison came to me. How many people are allergic to peanuts, and how many are deathly allergic to peanuts? How many don’t know yet that they will be deathly allergic to peanuts? Would it be fair to those people to not give them a choice of whether peanuts are in their food or not? That’s what legally controlling vaccinating would be like. Why hasn’t the government not banned peanuts completely? Eradicated this peanut problem? Rid the world of peanuts! Why has this not been done? Because it is ridiculous. Everyone has the freedom to choose, everyone has the right to weigh risk factors and decide if those risks are ones that they are willing to take. What’s good for a majority is not always best for all. Let’s stop wasting time and energy fighting about whether to vaccinate or not. Let’s become more accepting and less judgemental. Maybe then we could all start seeing that everyone is doing the best they can with what they have.
They make a lot of money doing it- look at the influence big pharma has- do you think a drug company wants someone 100 percent healthy…
I mean come on the would go out of bussniess.
the government does not have any right to say what we put in our or our children’s bodies. Especially with all the mounting evidence of the harm they do.
If one child is not vaccinated through personal choice (religious or other) of their parents, then my child and most other children are put in harm’s way intentionally. Who has the right to have this choice? Are we not all Canadians with equal rights to keep our children safe from harm?
People who are against it have no proven reason. They have been taken in by a few uniformed wannabe celebrities,, and that includes some doctors that like to think they are smarter than all the researchers and studies. that have proven vaccines are safe.
I am posting this comment from sources that drive our society, including the highest law of the land, the Canadian Constitution, more importantly the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The origins of the CRF comes from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights written by the United Nations. In this posting, there will be definitions from Merriam-Webster to show what these terms mean and how they should be used. So without further ado, here is the post.
Charter of Rights and Freedoms
7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.
Ontario Human Rights Code
“Family status” means the status of being in a parent and child relationship; (“état familial”)
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1.
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
This means that all people are free and equal even at birth. They have the ability to think for themselves and should consider all other people before acting (do unto other that you want done unto you.)
Article 3.
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
Everyone has the right to choose the way they live their life, make choices affecting their lifestyles (Life). Everyone has the right to be free in wherever they live (Liberty). everyone has the right to feel safe in their home, community, county, province, country, and anywhere they should choose to be in all aspects, including the law, health and safety, freedom from preventable illnesses, etc (Security of Person).
Article 12.
“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”
Arbitrary = based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.
Interference = prevent (a process or activity) from continuing or being carried out properly.
Arbitrary Interference = the act of prevention a process or activity from continuing or being carried out in a proper manner based upon random choice or personal whim, rather than with any reason or logical system.
Privacy = the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people, or the state of being free from public attention.
Family = a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household, or all the descendants of a common ancestor.
Home = the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.
Correspondence = a close similarity, connection, or equivalence.
This means that no person shall be subject to, or in equal measure, allow someone to be subjected to, or be the causation of being subjected to any action that prevents the normal process or activity of privacy, family and family matters, their place of residence, or their correspondence in all matters connected to the security of the person, including but not limited to, health care, social wellbeing, social standing, employment.
Article 25.
“(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control”
Standard = a level of quality or attainment.
Adequate = satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity.
Health = the state of being free from illness or injury.
Well-being = the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.
Circumstance = a fact or condition connected with or relevant to an event or action.
Beyond = happening or continuing after (a specified time or event), or out of the reach or sphere of
Control = the power to influence or direct people’s behavior or the course of events.
This means that everyone is ENTITLED to a standard of living that ensures a state of being free of illness or injury and a state of being comfortable, healthy, and happy within all measures of reasonable control for all aspects of life, as can be guaranteed. This means that any action that can be taken by a person to assist in the aiding of this standard of living and the prevention of contradiction of that standard must be taken.
Article 27.
“(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”
This means that people are free to take part in any service or activity within the community, as well as ensure that not partaking does not impede on the rights of others to do so.
Article 29.
“(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”
This means that no one can claim their human rights if they do not perform their duties to the community, assisting in the health, well-being, safety and security of the individual and community alike.
Article 30.
“Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.”
This means that no government, association, corporation, other group, or person has the right to perform any action that impedes the rights of others, or to partake in any action, or allow the partaking of any action that infringes on the safety, security, or other rights of any other person regardless of reason.
_______________________________________________________________
with all of this being said, I want to make it completely clear that everyone has the right to refuse medical treatment as well as to choose what medical treatment their children receive. However, keep in mind that while everyone has this right, they also have a duty to not infringe or impede on the rights of other people. This is where it gets tricky. The right to choose the medical treatment for your children does mean that yes, you can choose to not have your child immunized. However, if this is your choice, and by way of making that choice, your child passes on a preventable illness or disease to another person, then it means that your choice has directly effected Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by subjecting another person to an insecurity regarding their health and well-being. Furthermore, beyond this, that choice has also effected the family and their family status of that person, as listed in the OHRC.
as aforementioned, our CRF comes from the UDHR by the UN, and by making this choice, that choice directly affects the above mentioned Articles of the UDHR. It also means that by making this choice due to personal whim or belief, without a reason beyond this, that choice is classified as “Arbitrarily Interfering” with the health, well-being, and livelihood of all those around you by introducing the possibility of contracting preventable diseases, currently not seen anymore, such as polio.
With all of this being said, I want to remind people that they have every right to make whatever decisions that they choose, so long as those decisions do not harm others.
remember this example, a person with AIDS does not disclose their condition to another person, and gives it to that person. If they had of disclosed their condition, the other person would have been at a lower risk of contracting it. further by not disclosing it, the person can be charged under the law with several different items. Albeit that this is an extreme example, the moral of the example is no different. If you do not get your children immunized, and those children pass on a preventable disease, then it is no different than the above example.
So much misinformation. Let me say it right up here, front and center. The Inactive Polio Vaccine (IPV) DOES NOT prevent the transmission of poliovirus. It only prevents the symptoms for the individual.
(1) Diphtheria – the vaccine does not prevent colonization or transmission of the virus. It was not designed to prevent transmission.
(2) Hepatitis B. – this is a blood-borne virus. A child with Hepatitis B is protected under the law and can attend school, but a perfectly healthy child who hasn’t been vaccinated is not.
(3) Haemophilus influenzae type b. – The use of Hib has caused the other types, a through f, to become more predominant every year.
(4) Measles. – data from years just prior to vaccination show the death rate to be 1 in 10,000. While reported cases were about 500,000 with about 450 deaths per year, it’s understood that 90% of children had measles by the age of 15. To achieve that infection rate on a population of 180 million people (at the time), 4 million people had to be infected every year.
(5) Mumps. – The death rate was about 40 per year prior to vaccination. Oh ya, there are studies showing that women who have had the Mumps have a lower chance of ovarian cancer.
(6) Pertussis (whooping cough). The vaccine does not prevent the colonization and transmission of B. pertussis. In addition, the PRN-negative strains of the virus have acquired a selective advantage for those who have been given the DTaP booster. The vaccinated are spreading this disease more than the unvaccinated.
(7) Poliomyelitis. The current vaccine (IPV) does not prevent transmission of the disease, it only prevents the symptoms for the individual.
(8) Rubella. – 15 deaths per year prior to vaccination
(9) Tetanus. – is not contagious
I am not getting the idea for mandatory vaccination and why some parents want to force other children to take vaccines if their own children are vaccinated. What is the reason? If their children are vaccinated it means the cannot contract the disease. Unless their children can contract a disease. But if it is true, what is the point of vaccination in the first place?
Why would you do that? I am a parent of a vaccine damaged child. You must protect the right to CHOOSE for all parents. I no longer choose to inject poisons in my children’s bodies. Period. If you read what is contained in vaccines, you would be wary as well!
Soorya Townley
Educating parents about the benefits of vaccinating is very important since so much false information, (even though it has been refuted) coming from discredited physicians like Andrew Wakefield, is still being thought to be true. The facts are clear. The Measle vaccine does not cause autism. However, this is the common belief of many who fear it. Ideological and religious beliefs are difficult to overcome. As a result, this disease is making a comeback and threatening so many youngsters with the possibility of blindness or even death.
If this cannot be resolved through education, the government has an obligation to protect our children through mandatory immunization.
I think that making the vaccines mandatory is ‘trespassing’ in on our lives. For us to choose our medical treatment is our own private business regarding us and our families. this is deeply rooted in our Charter and common law, and if this were to change, what else could happen? What if they made flu shots that are dangerous and only work 65% of the time against last years flu mandatory? If they changed this, what else could happen? it is a a massive invasion of privacy and the people who support this movement clearly don’t understand what a vaccine is and has the potential to do to a person.
I am not for forced vaccination at all.
I feel that if you have strong beliefs against vaccination you should have every right to educate your children at home or in private schools with similar beliefs .
If a specialist documents for health reasons your child can not be vaccinated then they can attend public school .
Canada is a free country you should be free to educate your children with your own strong beliefs .
How many people would change their minds if public schools could set this policy .
Other people’s tax dollars are paying for these public schools also Jane. As who are you to tell anyone you want to force others to remove their kids from these public schools who are not vaccinated. If that is what you want, then maybe you should also lobby the government so those parents who choice is not to vaccinate their kids, that they should not have to pay taxes for these schools you want unvaccinated kids out of. Also it is plain you do not believe in liberties and freedoms and wish to give up your rights for the state, that uses the media to hoodwink the public.
Oh gosh, for those of your worried so much about the consistency of the vaccines, you probably shouldn’t allow your child to eat tuna or other fresh or farmed fish, if it is mercury, aluminum, toxins you are worried about! The amount of “toxins” you call them that are in the vaccines are miniscule compared to the fish and meats, vegetables and fruits that humans consume daily! One day, we will all look back at the measles and pertussis outbreak in Alberta (2012-2013) and remember how important it is to vaccinate our children, and how lucky we have been to be vaccinated. We can also look at third world countries and their “preventable disease” status and count ourselves lucky that we HAVE A CHOICE in vaccinating and preventing these terrible, nearly irradiated diseases, where they do not. I believe that Canada should institute law like Australia has: It is not mandatory to vaccinate your children, but it is mandatory that your children attend school…..you do the math. Of course this is based on exemptions such as previously mentioned in the article: those with weakened or no immunity and those that are allergic or sensitive to the vaccines….all requiring proof! Get your heads out of your arses Canada….we live where we live because we are fortunate enough to have a choice…but just like smoking around children or in the car with them…if you can not (as the legal guardian) make the right choice for the health and wellness of your child….you should have it made for you!!!
When you eat tuna, it is being filtered through your digestive system before it gets to the blood. When you injected directly into the bloodstream, it’s bypassed all filters and is in your blood and passed into your brain. The difference is enormous.
Personally I Dont like to be told my chd HAS to have something injected in them. It should be a choice. Yes I vaccinate my kids but I do see both sides and as much as I hate to vaccinate them it was MY CHOICE to do so as I FEEL for ME as a parent that its my duty to protect them in any means possible (my opinion is definitely different then other and in no way do I believe parents to be irresponsible for not immunizing their kids, I believe that they believe what they choose is their parental duty). As for my second child, she was immunized at 12m for rubella in BC and withing 2weeks contracted rubella..coinsidence? Who knows. But she battled through it like a trooper and she came out the other side just fine. Some times we can’t just pop pain killers just in case, we got to feel the pain and treat it.
I propose to create Vaccine injury compensation in Canada, like in US, before forcing people to vaccinate children.
The antivaccinationists are in my opinion misinformed. Vaccines are one of the reasons are children are no longer dying prematurely. It’s one of those inventions that goes along with running water, sewage systems, refrigeration etc. To deny children the opportunity to avoid easily-preventable illnesses because the parent is unaware of the risk/benefit ratio is truly sad.
That being said, we live in a free, democratic nation. If a parent is foolish enough to not want their child vaccinated, they must live with the consequences should illness arise. We, as a society, cannot force them. The parent is ultimately responsible for the child’s well-being, not the state.
No Hamish, you are misinformed. I’ll paste my reply to another comment:
The measles death rate prior to vaccines was about 450 per year in the US on a population of 180 million people. The reported cases were about 500,000. But, 90% of the population had measles by the age of 15. To achieve that infection rate, about 4 million people had to get measles every year. That puts the death rate at about 1 in 10,000. Mumps had 50 deaths and Rubella had 15. Do you really consider that high risk?
In contrast, 1 in 168 children are hospitalized following the 12-month vaccinations and 1 in 730 are hospitalized after the 18-month vaccinations based on a study done in Ontario. In addition, the US government currently pays out over $3 billion annually to those damaged from vaccines. This is in a system designed to prevent you from winning your case. Most people spend a good ten years fighting the government for compensation.
Let’s look at the other diseases:
Polio – the current polio vaccine (IPV) does not prevent the transmission of poliovirus, it only prevents the symptoms of the disease for the individual.
Diphtheria – the vaccine is not designed to prevent colonization and transmission of the disease.
Tetanus – is not contagious
Pertussis – the vaccine is not capable of preventing the colonization and transmission of the disease. in fact, PRN-negative strains of the virus have acquired a selective advantage for the who have received the DTaP booster. The vaccinated are putting the public at greater risk than the un-vaccinated.
By this point, you should understand that a person not vaccinated with Polio and DTaP vaccines poses no additional risk to the public, and in the case of Pertussis, a lower risk.
Let’s look at the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine Hib focuses on the B strain. Its use has caused the other strains, types a through f, to increase in dominance. We’re chasing our tail with this one.
Hepatitis B is a blood-borne virus. A child with Hep B is protected under the law to be allowed in school, but a healthy child not vaccinated for it would not be? Does that make any sense to you?
Get educated on the subject, you’ll see there is no need to force mandatory vaccinations and it’s perfectly reasonable to choose against vaccinating.
If the government is going to push or mandate immunizations, they need to also make available more options on how the immunizations are delivered. Why can’t I get a polio vaccine in Ontario without also getting Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis at the same time (DTap-IPV)? I got a rubella vacine all by itself as an adult, why can’t I get one for my child without also getting Measles and Mumps vaccines at the same time? My issue with the vaccines is the way they are packaged together without adequate longterm research. Until I have more support for alternative ways to deliver the vaccines – individually and age appropriate at the very least – mandatory legislation is unconstitutional.
Why would you want to purposefully put toxins, mercury, aluminum and many more harmful junk into someone you love????? once you see that’s what is in them.
Think people and do your own research and then see if you still believe the government???? Vacs has changed drastically!!! I personally will never allow my children to be vaccinated again I live with my past decisions that I believed the government and I had a herm mentality that they would only do what was good for my children. I believe that this has caused my son to be vacs injured!!! I will no longer pay rushing roulette with my children.
I would like to see all non vac. children outside of the public school system
unless deemed necessary not to vaccinate by a paediatric specialist .
Home school ,or private school with like minded parents .
We as a society have bent over backwards in so many aspects to try and keep everyone happy and not offend anyone .
Enough
I hope and pray all children are safe and healthy .
By the way one of my children can not be immunized against dpt .
I have had experienced both sides of the fence .
Not that long ago people died in masses or lived with crippling effects .
Living in a “free county” like Canada gives us certain rights. We have the right to education. Taking this right away from children who’s parents have chosen not to immunize them is not the right way to handle this issue. A parent can choose to remove their children from school if they don’t want their children going to school with children who are not Vaccinated. Do you see the difference? It’s about being able to make decisions in a free county, instead of having the government and people with closed minds telling you what to do.
We also have something called duties. Furthermore, yes we do have rights, but our rights do not exceed all of those around us. A right to belief for example, someone may believe in Christianity, another doesn’t. The Christian cannot tell the other that their belief is wrong. Second. We as Canadians all have what it called the right to life, liberty, and security of the person. however, a lot of misinformed people in Canada believe that security of the person is civil only, meaning that it is protection and security against tyranny in terms of government. What they fail to realize is that it extends far beyond that. Security of the person pertains to all aspects of a persons life, meaning education, employment, social services, and health care. This means that if someone elects to not immunize their children, and that child gets sick and transmits that illness, then the right to security of the person of the infected person who became infected by way of unvaccinated persons has been violated, and in terms of legal repercussions, the parents are liable and in all technicality could be sued and or charged depending upon the severity of the case.
Thanks for your comments, Jon. I want to point out that, as far as I know, there hasn’t been any precedent in Canada where parents have been held legally liable as a result of an illness resulting from not vaccinating their child. I don’t think you were arguing this has happened or even should happen, but I wanted to make this clear to avoid confusion.
You must be friends with Dorit reiss, hey Jon? If you agree that parents of non vaxed kids should be held liable when said vaccinated (protected) kid get sick (assuming un vaxed kid was patient zero), do you agree with ppl being sued when their kids pass on a cold or the flu? Cause it’s the same thing essentially but because there’s no vaccination for a cold would that be ok? Or is it just diseases that have vaccinations that ppl should be held liable for?
That would make sense. There is no reasonable opportunity to prevent the transmission of a cold, but there is an opportunity to prevent the transmission of a preventable disease. The availability of a vaccination could be argued to create a legal duty of care.
You parents need to realize that not every child can receive vaccines without severe reaction! My daughter for example received her vaccines up to 12 months old, but each time we went in she was left screaming in terror for 3-4 days. upon examination and cat scan during her last episode, swelling was visible on her brain. I WILL NEVER VACCINATE HER AGAIN!!! SHES LUCKY TO BE ALIVE!!! Yet you parents choose to look down on us as possible disease spreaders! Put on someone else’s shoes before your Cut & Dry comments. If our country could provide safer vaccines (such as the Flu Mist with no mercury and other junk) I’m certain more if not all people would vaccinate!
My oldest granddaughter had a severe reaction to her MMR and could have died if my daughter had ignored the symptoms and the doctors that said… “this just happens sometimes”. I don’t think that a sustained 106 fever is any way normal. For this reason she did not receive any vaccinations prior to starting school. With her second, she worked with her doctor to develop a vaccination schedule that was satisfactory to her with no multiple vaccinations and nothing before she was six months. She will not have her MMR due to the reaction of her older sibling. I’m old school and was worried at first, but I know that my daughter spent countless hours doing her research and didn’t make this decision lightly. And she has the blessing of her doctor. And the more it’s pushed, the more I wonder…
All schools are nut aware or nut free for the
sake of protecting thoes who may have a nut allergy.
Even if a school does not have a student in their school with a nut allergy it still must remain nut free incase there is a visitor, parent, sibling at another school, ect…..
We do it as a Herd to protect our Herd.
These children have the right to not have their Life threatened or ended because their school environment is unsafe.
I feel that the Immunizations are the same.
We have to ensure that we are not risking LIVES of students, of teachers, and unborn babies in schools (school staff pregnant).
An unimmunized child can be responsible for bringing in a disease that kills another student, staff, or unborn baby.
A mom is fighting to make a school dairy free.. Is that right too? No milk, crackers, cheese, yogurts,breads, etc..
Its extremism…our constitution doesn’t allow it. People with a nut allergy will likely die if exposed and not receiving intervention quick enough. Dairy is a.sensitivity rather than an allergy. My 6 year old daughter has a gluten sensitivity and she is very aware of what she should stay away from. There are times she has.something and she flares up amd she knows why…that aside chicken.pox isnt a death sentence…possible complications yes with any illness..but highly unlikely. Mandatory vaccinations will simply not happen no matter how much people kick scream
You’re wrong! Dairy allergies can be just as deadly as peanut allergies! It’s unfortunate so many people don’t realize this. There was recently a young man who died in jail in the USA while being held for marijuana possession due to his dairy allergy. Like you, the jailers didn’t believe the young man when he told them dairy who kill him and asked if there was any in his food. They lied and said there wasn’t but there was butter in his oatmeal. He started to scream for help after eating it, but they ignored him until he stopped breathing and died. Dairy allergies can cause…
Hives
Stomach upset
Vomiting
Bloody stools, especially in infants
Anaphylaxis, a rare, potentially life-threatening reaction that impairs breathing and can send the body into shock
No it’s not right if the child has that many allergies they need to be home schooled. Let me ask you if the child never grows out of the allergies,what happens when they have to go out into the big bad world?
Why are we talking about “mandatory” vaccination in Canada? Is there a plan afloat to change our Constitution? According to the Canadian National Report on Immunization, 1996:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/webarchives/20071212103611/http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/97vol23/23s4/23s4b_e.html
“Unlike some countries, immunization is not mandatory in Canada; it cannot be made mandatory because of the Canadian Constitution. Only three provinces have legislation or regulations under their health-protection acts to require proof of immunization for school entrance. Ontario and New Brunswick require proof for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella immunization. In Manitoba, only measles vaccination is covered. It must be emphasized that, in these three provinces, exceptions are permitted for medical or religious grounds and reasons of conscience; legislation and regulations must not be interpreted to imply compulsory immunization.”
Also, this article states, “The Ontario and New Brunswick legislation, both of which have been in place since 1982, are quite extensive and require school children to be vaccinated against diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis (whooping cough), measles, rubella, mumps, varicella (chicken pox) and meningococcal disease.” Memingococcal, varicella and pertussis have been added to the Immunization of School Pupils Act for July 1, 2014. See: http://news.ontario.ca/mohltc/en/2014/04/keeping-children-safe-from-harmful-diseases.html
In recent years, I believe the Canadian Constitution has been in place so that people with marginal ideation can hide behind the Constitution and have whatever garbage they want to protect be along side it. Immigrants move to Canada and know more about the constitution than those native to Canada. It is sad when
parents are willing to put the lives of not only their own children but also those of other people in jeopardy and immediately use the constitution to justify it. If a peanut butter sandwich is not alowed to be taken to school for fear of the well being of other children with allergies, then how much more important is it for children who are NOT immunized to be required to have vaccines not only to protect themselves but also the other children they are with on a daily basis? Maybe the constitution needs to be revisited since people are abusing it to do all sorts of negative things that endanger the Canadian people. If a parent refuses to vaccinate their child, then the parent should be charged with murder if their decision results in the death of an innocent child who cannot make an informed decision for him or her self. Stop abusing our Canadian Constitution for manipulative behaviour all in the name of rights and freedom. With that logic, the child who likes peanut butter sandwiches is having their rights and freedom infringed upon by not being allowed to take it to school in their lunch box. It is time we take responsibility for our own actions and start using common sense which seems to be sorely lacking in the vaccination debate. For once, the federal government should make vaccination mandatory forall children before they are allowed to go to school. The actions of those parents who ignore science in favour of one paper that was clearly deemed fraudulant and beleve the opinion of one actor, Jenny McCarthy who incidently isn’t a physician or researcher, need to be held accountable to have their children vaccinated if they want them to be a functional part of Canadian society. Do not kill our children with bad décisions. They cannot speak for themselves so protect them. Get your child’s vaccination record up to date. Isn’t it shameful that third world countries have a higher per centage of their children vaccinated than children here in North America ?
What part of the Constitution would be violated by making vaccinations mandatory for most people? Bit tricky to pick a section of the Charter that it would definitely violate… The exemptions are required under section 15 (right not to be discriminated against on the basis of religion, because some religions forbid vaccinations) and probably section 7 (security of person, because vaccinating someone with a severe allergy might kill them), but that wouldn’t necessarily make it unconstitutional for everyone not exempted for those reasons.
Dear Diana, check out http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/cig-gci/cedv-cemv-tab-eng.php.
You will find this site, a public website not hidden from view will illustrate that the main side effects of childhood vaccination are modest discomfort, with some rare adverse events. The best illumination of conspiratorial darkness is the light of fact.
This article – and all those put out by conventional media – is so one sided. It doesn’t take into account the feelings of people who are hesitant to vaccinate for very valid reasons – they are afraid the vaccine will do more harm than good for their child. What is the rate and severity of adverse events from children who receive the vaccine? You can’t tell me there are none. Why don’t they release these statistics then let parents choose. Such one-sided, non-compassionate writing does not encourage people with non-vaccinated children to vaccinate their children, but rather drives a wedge even further between the two camps. If the intended effect is to change the minds of parents of non-vaccinated children, it is not successful. If the intended effect is to cause mass panic so people peer pressure each other into getting vaccinated out of fear (like with the flu vaccine – mass panic until we ran out of supply then – “oh, don’t worry, just wash your hands” – pat each other on the back for a successful campaign, we had the best immunization rates ever!). Then I guess it meets its target. %featured%I am completely against mandatory vaccinations but think Alberta’s approach to keeping unvaccinated kids out of school if a case is found in school is perfect.%featured%
I completely agree with you – and forced vaccination is right up there with communisim and Stalinist thinking!!!! I would never agree to the gov’t forcibly injecting something in my body, or my children’s body!! Besides, if these vaccines work soooo well, why is everyone afraid of the unvaccinated ones??
because of herd immunity. herd immunity is gained by people protecting not only themselves, but also their community. there are many articles out there that are scientifically proven, and unless we want to digress into a state of where the world is flat, and the universe revolves around the earth, then we have to use our logical thought processes. maybe when preventable diseases that have been all but eradicated start popping back up in the non-immunized community then you will all believe in the scientific breakthroughs that we are making. furthermore, by your choice of not immunizing yourself or your children, you are causing the increase of health care costs. why dont you pay for that health care cost increase?
yep and everyone in our neighborhood way back when all got measles and chicken pox…guess what we all survived and no worse for wear. Just another damn money grab by Big Pharma so sad they don’t care about the repercussions and harm some vaccines can cause on human beings it all comes down to the all mighty dollar. I say let parents choose and make decisions based on their own research and beliefs. Quit trying to Ram it down our throats!
PRN-negative strains of the B. pertussis virus have acquired a selective advantage to infect those who are up to date on the DTaP boosters. This means you are more likely to get infected from a vaccinated person than an un-vaccinated person. In addition, the vaccine is not capable of preventing the colonization and transmission of B. pertussis. So, for Whooping cough, who’s going to put more strain on the healthcare system? I could go through the other vaccines, but I’m trying to keep this reply short. I can happily send you peer-reviewed study and CDC documentation that supports this.
Apparently, you aren’t aware of the measles paradox: “The apparent paradox is that as measles immunization rates rise to high levels in a population, measles becomes a disease of immunized persons.”
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=619215
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9463343
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17339511
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23264672
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24585562
Some vaccines work better than others. The mumps vaccine is about 88% effective meaning 12 vaccinated people out of 100 are still at risk. If your unvaccinated child gets mumps, which they are more likely to do, then your child places 12% of vaccinated kids at risk too. I don’t think the article is about forcing you to vaccinate, it’s about forcing you to keep your unvaccinated away from schools.
For what reason? Because measles has a 90% infection rate (it does) and a death rate of Ebola (it doesn’t)? That’s what the media would have you believe, including the authors of this irresponsible article. The tag line of this site is laughable, considering the biased skewing of the article.
The measles death rate prior to vaccines was about 450 per year in the US on a population of 180 million people. The reported cases were about 500,000. But, 90% of the population had measles by the age of 15. To achieve that infection rate, about 4 million people had to get measles every year. That puts the death rate at about 1 in 10,000. Mumps had 50 deaths and Rubella had 15. Do you really consider that high risk?
In contrast, 1 in 168 children are hospitalized following the 12-month vaccinations and 1 in 730 are hospitalized after the 18-month vaccinations. In addition, the US government currently pays out over $3 billion annually to those damaged from vaccines. This is in a system designed to prevent you from winning your case. Most people spend a good ten years fighting the government for compensation.
Let’s look at the other diseases:
Polio – the current polio vaccine (IPV) does not prevent the transmission of poliovirus, it only prevents the symptoms of the disease for the individual.
Diphtheria – the vaccine is not designed to prevent colonization and transmission of the disease.
Tetanus – is not contagious
Pertussis – the vaccine is not capable of preventing the colonization and transmission of the disease. in fact, PRN-negative strains of the virus have acquired a selective advantage for the who have received the DTaP booster. The vaccinate are putting the public at greater risk than the un-vaccinated.
By this point, you should understand that a person not vaccinated with Polio and DTaP vaccines poses no additional risk to the public, and in the case of Pertussis, a lower risk.
Let’s look at the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine Hib focuses on the B strain. This has caused the other strains, types a through f, to increase in dominance. We’re chasing our tail with this one.
Hepatitis B is a blood-borne virus. A child with Hep B is protected under the law to be allowed in school, but a healthy child not vaccinated for it would not be? Does that make any sense to you?
Get educated on the subject, you’ll see there is no need to force mandatory vaccinations and it’s perfectly reasonable to choose against vaccinating.
Karen Born, Verna Yiu and Terrence Sullivan, expect unbiased and informed journalism to include the above information I’ve presented. I’ll happily provide the peer-reviewed studies and CDC data that support everything I’ve written.
if you are presuming that vaccinations cause autism or other similar disorders, then i want you to consider the following as 100% true.
Spoons made me fat.
wow Jon…not a very good comparison…spoons made me fat? This comparison and thought process doesn’t hold alot of weight for me…ummm excuse the pun..
There is some level of risk associated with vaccines (as with almost all medicines), but it’s very low. Adverse reaction reports are carefully tracked and the data is readily available on the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website. I’d encourage you to look it up.
If you DON’T get the vaccine:
Fever 100%
Ear infections 10%
Diarrhea 10%
Pneumonia 5%
Seizure .6%
Encephalitis .1%
Permanent brain damage .004%
Death .2%
If you get the vaccine
Fever 20%
Rash 5%
Swelling of lymph nodes 1%
Seizure .03%
Low Platelet .003%
Permanent brain damage .000001%
Death .000001%
(This is based mostly on data from http://www.cdc.gov. I just did a cost-benefit analysis in a paper. My calculations suggest a statistical cost of vaccinating a child of $127, compared to a statistical cost of NOT vaccinating your child of $10,828.40. But, feel free to do your own cost-benefit analysis.)
So, you may have valid reasons for choosing not to vaccinate, but they wouldn’t be rational reasons. In fact, I think most people probably don’t have rational reasons. They probably have reasons that result from a lack of information, or from a cognitive dissonance such as irrational status quo bias, loss aversion, or regret avoidance.
On Ontario study showed that 1 in 168 children are hospitalized following their 12-month vaccination appointment and 1 in 730 are hospitalized following their 18-month vaccination appointment. Did you factor that into your cost-benefit analysis?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22174753
%featured%I like the proposal I heard recently that by raising the exemption bar slightly, those who were vaccine hesitant or forgetful would likely comply. Requiring documentary evidence that the parent had had a conversation with their child’s physician before any exemption is granted would, it is suggested, make getting their child vaccinated the easier route.%featured%
As a 66 year old who lived through the latter part of the polio epidemic, I remember that there seemed to be no problem for schools to require evidence of immunization before entry was allowed. The occasional child who never returned and those who returned harmed by the disease were powerful motivators indeed.
The current polio vaccine does not prevent the transmission of Poliovirus, it only prevents the symptoms for the individual. That makes that particular vaccine not relevant to the “herd immunity” argument.