Dear Parents/Guardians and Caregivers,
RE: BC Government’s measles vaccine catch-up program for school-aged children from April to June 2019 – UPDATE
The measles vaccine catch-up program for school-aged children is currently underway. As we continue to see measles cases throughout the Lower Mainland, and as government prepares for mandatory reporting of vaccines to schools, we are taking steps to ensure your child’s vaccines are up to date.
We are reviewing student records to determine who has been vaccinated. Fraser Health is mailing letters directly to households for those students that are not up to date with measles vaccines.
Due to the large volume of students, it will take several weeks to contact all affected students. It is not necessary to request your child’s records at this time.
If you receive a letter indicating your child is not up to date for the measles vaccine, your options are as follows:
- Your child can receive missing vaccines at community clinics, by seeing a family physician, nurse practitioner or pharmacist or by booking an appointment with Public Health. For more information, please visit www.fraserhealth.ca/measlescatchup
- Some students will also be offered measles vaccine catch-up clinics at their school, or a neighbouring school, which will be indicated in the letter. Specifically, students in grades 10-12 will be given the opportunity to receive any missing vaccines at the clinic as they will be leaving the school system soon.
At Fraser Health clinics, students in grades 8-12 will be given the option of consenting to or refusing vaccines through the mature minor process. For more information, please refer to: www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthlinkbc-files/infants-act-mature-minor-consent-and-immunization.
Please note that if your child received a letter, but has their immunizations outside BC or from their family doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist and not Fraser Health Public Health, we may not have a record of their immunization. Therefore, please e-mail your child’s immunization records to: reportimmunizations@fraserhealth.ca.
If you have any questions, please contact your local Public Health Unit listed below.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ingrid Tyler, MD, CCFP, MHSc, MEd, FRCPC
Medical Director and Medical Health Officer
