World Immunization Week

Experts develop vaccines to protect us from viruses, bacteria and diseases. Vaccines have successfully lowered infection rates in countries with strong vaccination programs. Some diseases—such as polio, rubella and diphtheria—are now rarely seen in Canada because of long-term, high rates of vaccination in the population.

Vaccines administered in childhood help to protect those who are vaccinated and, equally important, help to protect those who are unable to be vaccinated, through herd immunity. Routinely provided vaccines currently available in Canada can protect children against 15 serious diseases, with most of these childhood vaccines providing over 90% protection. These vaccines are provided free of charge to children and funded by provincial and territorial governments.

Although most school vaccination has ceased or been delayed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents and guardians were more favourably inclined to have their child vaccinated in 2019 than they were two years earlier. In 2019, 77% of parents or guardians agreed that delaying childhood vaccines poses risks to the health of the child, up from 69% in 2017. Furthermore, 94% agreed that unvaccinated children were at a higher risk of contracting serious diseases, up from 87% in 2017. Most parents and guardians also agreed that having their child vaccinated helps protect the health of others in their family (96%) and their community (97%).

Vaccination isn’t just for children. There are also diseases that are more common in adults, even healthy ones. For example, one of the strongest increases in cancer mortality from 1984 to 2020 was noted for anal cancer (+3.3% per year). However, it is expected that human papilloma virus vaccination, which has been available in publicly funded school-based programs in all provinces and territories since 2017, will contribute to reversing this trend. The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer has reported provincial and territorial immunization uptake proportions ranging from 57.1% to 91.3% for girls and from 57.5% to 91.3% for boys.

The pandemic has brought considerable attention to the development of new vaccines against a novel coronavirus. COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Survey results from May 2021 show the overwhelming majority of adults residing in the provinces believe that vaccines in general are safe (94.6%) and effective (97.1%) ways of protecting people from disease. COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in Canada are free. They are available to everyone 5 years of age and older, including those who aren’t citizens.

Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to protect our families, our communities and ourselves against severe COVID-19 outcomes.

The number of vaccines you may need depends on your medical history and risks. Also, differences across provinces and territories exist in terms of how vaccines are provided and which ones are publicly funded. To check if your vaccines are up to date, talk to your health care provider and find out what you need to be best protected.