Toronto health officials issue reminder about elementary student vaccination, non-compliance could trigger suspension

Ontario Medical Association President Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman talks about the vaccinations students should have before they attend school in the province.

Students across Toronto will head back to school next week, and the city’s health officials say they need to be caught up on their vaccinations or risk a 20-day suspension.

Toronto Public Health (TPH) issued the reminder in a news release to parents and guardians on Wednesday.

“All students are required to have certain vaccinations as outlined in Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) unless they have a valid exemption,” TPH wrote.

The vaccines include measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, pertussis (whooping cough), meningococcal, and for students born in 2010 or later, varicella (chicken pox).

TPH’s reminder comes amid an ongoing measles outbreak in Ontario that has largely affected unimmunized individuals in the province’s southwest.

As such, TPH said that during this upcoming school year, officials will assess and enforce the ISPA requirements for public elementary students born between 2015 and 2018 (grades 2 to 5).

“As the risk of measles exposure in Ontario persists, TPH will assess these grades due to low rates of submitted measles vaccine records,” the news release read.

Health officials said that students who are missing any of the records required for ISPA compliance may face suspension for up to 20 school days.

During the last school year, TPH told CTV News Toronto, a total of 6,090 students were suspended for one day or more due to non-compliance of the 40,000 students who were assessed.

Those looking for more information about booking a vaccine appointment or checking the status of their child’s immunization status can click here.