Building trust: Tailored messaging needed to limit vaccine hesitancy
Vaccines
Africa’s early success in fighting pandemic now at risk
‘What does this mean for us?’ People with developmental disabilities left out of vaccination planning
Pollution reduction: an all-inclusive vaccine
Anti-vaxxers may be a lost cause but the vaccine-hesitant must be brought on board
Distinguishing between “vaccine hesitancy,” a term that has gained traction in recent years, and anti-vaxxers is vital if we are to bring the pandemic under control. Anti-vaxxers can rarely be persuaded to give up their fixed beliefs that all vaccines are harmful. Numerous sources have recommended that health professionals instead focus on those who are …
Breaking down walls: Teamwork key to effective vaccine rollout
Vaccine messaging must address grim history of race-based experiments
COVID-19 vaccine development and global politics: The case for transparency
Five things you should know about penicillin allergies
Provinces divided over mandatory vaccination for school children
Should HPV vaccination programs be expanded to boys?
Vaccination programs are based on the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Since 2007 Canada has had a vaccination program for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) administered to girls, although the age of vaccination varies by province: Grade 5 in Alberta and Grade 8 (with catch up until Grade …
The evidence and politics of mandatory health care worker vaccination
The United States Center for Disease Control reports that while only 44% of employees get the influenza or “flu” shot on a voluntary basis, that number rises to 89% when it is required or mandated by the employer. With vaccination rates of 45% among health care workers in some Alberta hospitals and similar rates in Ontario, a debate has …
A paeditrician’s plea to the anti-vaccinationists
The global public health success of vaccination is astounding. According to the World Health Organization, vaccinations save the lives of 2-3 million people worldwide each year and prevent millions of others from suffering and disability. Marvelous achievements from the use of vaccinations continue; just this month India was declared Polio-free . Past and ongoing studies …
Much ado about the flu vaccine
This is not a piece that is pro-vaccination or anti-vaccination. I am writing this as a citizen and consumer of the health system in Canada. I have watched the messaging about the influenza vaccination both in 2009 and now in 2014. It may be time for our health officials to pause and take the time …
Promoting vaccine benefits: public health officials call for a rethink of communication with parents
Public health officials must find better ways to communicate with parents about the risks and benefits of childhood vaccination, researchers and public health officials agree. That task is particularly challenging in the absence of a national, or a provincial, vaccine surveillance registry because, to target messages effectively, accurate and timely information about vaccination rates and …
Absence of vaccine registry hampers ability to track vaccine-preventable outbreaks
The re-emergence of vaccine-preventable illnesses is a major concern for Ontario’s public health officials. Efforts to create a national vaccine registry have stalled. A real time, comprehensive vaccine registry and surveillance system in Ontario may be the best answer to the information deficit. Faced with a measles outbreak at an elementary school, nurse Susan Otten spent …
Should health care workers be required to get the flu vaccine?
Each year several thousand Canadians die from influenza. Vaccinating health care workers against flu reduces transmission and would protect patients who are most vulnerable. However, only about 40% of hospital staff in Ontario were vaccinated last winter. Is it time for Ontario to make the flu vaccine mandatory for health care workers? Explaining the influenza …