Ontario is in the midst of a dramatic and widespread outbreak of preventable measles, with 572 cases and counting, concentrated among 13 public health units. It’s no surprise then that Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, is deeply concerned. He wants to see a shift toward positive communication that meets the needs of tentative parents, as opposed to combative approaches like mandatory vaccination.
The outbreak was initially traced to a wedding hosted by hospitable Mennonite hosts in New Brunswick. We have made one terrible choice that has allowed this virus to flood our communities. Toronto Public Health confirmed a new case on Monday, involving that person working in the city. This is a very troubling case. It did expose others to those dangers at a pizza parlour and on a Via Rail train going to and from London.
In light of these developments, Dr. Moore expressed that he and local public health leaders believe that fostering understanding and trust within the community will yield better results than coercive policies. His response was, “We have to honor their concern. Work with the community to ensure they know the benefits of the vaccine.”
Although the number of cases is increasing quickly. Yet, many local public health units do not have the capacity or the resources to provide consistent and timely data on vaccination exemptions. The Grand Erie and Southwestern public health units are at the centre of this outbreak. As great as that is, they didn’t provide a lot of detailed numbers. Nevertheless, certain areas have seen record spikes in non-medical exemptions this school year.
The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit has already issued 168 non-medical exemptions this school year. They processed a mere 66 exemptions in the 2018-2019 school year. Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health reported processing 445 non-medical exemptions this year. This is an increase from 127 in the previous year. Indeed, these figures paint a worrisome portrait of an increasing vaccine hesitancy trend among parents.
York Region experienced a 500% surge in philosophical exemptions. So far, they’ve documented 3,147 exemptions, about 1.72% of students. Now parents who want philosophical or religious exemptions have to view an online educational video prior to filing an exemption. This video explains how vaccines are made safe and effective before we process their requests.
Kumanan Wilson, the former chief scientific officer at the Bruyère Research Institute in Ottawa, said the alarm. He emphasized the risks of creating a concentration of unvaccinated people. He cautioned that grouping these unvaccinated people together risks making congregate living dangerous. This scenario provides a perfect breeding ground for an outbreak in the other direction.
Even as health officials scramble to respond to this fast-moving outbreak, the focus is on education and communication—not enforcement. The long-term goal is to establish a level of trust with wary parents that convinces them to change their mind about getting vaccinated.
