Ottawa·New
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) says children who received the oral polio vaccine since April 2016, likely from outside Canada, no longer meet provincial vaccine requirements for school and daycare.
National advisory body says vaccine switch in 2016 behind change in guidance
Ottawa Public Health (OPH) says children who received an oral polio vaccine since April 2016 no longer meet provincial vaccine requirements for school and daycare.
A provincial explainer from April says oral polio vaccines haven’t been used in Canada for nearly 30 years, so children affected likely got one elsewhere. Canada uses injectable polio vaccines.
The province and OPH each point to guidance changes from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization around an international oral polio vaccine change in 2016. The committee said the oral vaccine in use after this change is no longer considered strong enough.
Over 2,400 students with vaccine records including this oral vaccine have been sent letters, according to OPH.
In order to attend school in Ontario, students must be immunized against nine illnesses, including polio, unless they have a valid exemption.
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