ISSUE/PURPOSE
The Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) R.S.O. 1990 is a law in Ontario that requires certain vaccines to be given, or for a valid exemption to be obtained, for a child to attend school in Ontario making sure that all school aged children are protected from vaccine preventable diseases. The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) reviews immunization records of students attending school in Windsor and Essex County (WEC) in accordance with the ISPA. Parents/guardians are responsible for reporting child immunizations to the WECHU. Health care providers do not have this responsibility, although often will support patients by sending copies of immunization records to the health unit or providing copies to families who are required to self-report but lack documentation. Interim solutions by health care providers such as faxing immunization records directly to public health or using other internet interfaces to report immunizations, result in increased workload for health care providers and public health units. Although the WECHU, and all local public health units provide multiple ways to make this reporting as easy and accessible for families as possible, it is recognized that more efficiencies may be possible through connected and streamlined reporting processes with health care providers.
During the January 18, 2024 WECHU Board of Health Meeting, after discussing the complexities of ISPA enforcement and compliance practices locally, it was requested that a report outlining local public health recommendations on this matter be brough forward for board consideration and support.
BACKGROUND
At the end of June in 2017, the newly elected Ontario government halted the implementation of a new rule, included in the previously endorsed Bill 198 -- Immunization of School Pupils Amendment Act, 2016, that would have required doctors and nurses in Ontario to report all immunizations administered to children directly to public health units. This rule would also have required the development of a province-wide computerized system for tracking children's vaccination records that seamlessly interacted with public health unit systems. It was widely recognized that this change would make it easier for parents/guardians to demonstrate ongoing compliance and reduce unnecessary suspensions due to out-of-date immunization records. The Bill was originally set for implementation on July 1, 2017, but was stopped in response to what has been described as concerns from the Ontario Medical Association and others that felt the Bill lacked proper consultation.
PROPOSED MOTION
Whereas, vaccination is important for the health of each student and the school community and,
Whereas, Ontario's immunization reporting system involves many redundancies and barriers for families and,
Whereas, a part of the mandate for all public health units in Ontario is to reduce inequities and increase access to opportunities and conditions that are conducive to health for all, including compliance with the ISPA.
Now therefore be it resolved that the Windsor-Essex County Board of Health request that the Ontario Government reconsider the requirement for all health care providers to report administered immunizations directly to public health, and
FURTHER THAT, the Ontario government dedicate resources to develop a seamless system for transferring vaccination records electronically from health care providers into public health databases across the province.