Local influenza vaccination rates down four per cent

By Rhiannon Lotze

Local vaccination rates have been decreasing despite influenza killing 2000-8000 Canadians every year, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Based on information from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, influenza vaccination rates in Windsor and Essex County have dropped from 2007 to 2012. The number of people who have had a flu shot at least once in their entire lives has dropped 3.9 per cent. The number of people vaccinated less than a year ago has dropped 6.9 per cent and the rate of people vaccinated between one and two years ago has dropped 2.4 per cent. Vaccination rates have also been dropping all across Canada.

A poll conducted by Forum Research has found that only about 40 per cent of Canadians have been given a flu shot. The poll also discovered that the main reason for people not wanting vaccinations is because they do not trust the safety of the vaccines. According to the poll, other reasons included inconvenience, lack of availability and good health.

The terms vaccination and immunization are often thought to mean the same thing. However, vaccinations must be received once a year whereas immunizations must be taken once in a lifetime with booster shots taken periodically afterwards.

Another possible cause of low vaccination rates is prominent public figures portraying them negatively. Celebrities like Jenny McCarthy have clouded the issue of the safety of vaccinations by saying that immunizations are not safe, despite scientific evidence proving otherwise. Since many people think vaccinations and immunizations are the same thing, they do not receive either of them.

David Millinoff, 53, is a science teacher at Sandwich Secondary School but he has also worked as a virologist.

“The media seems to feel that they are experts in public health issues… don’t go to the Internet as a source of information. Talk to public health officials,” Millinoff said. According to him, almost all vaccinations are safe, with the exception of one or two unnamed ones.

While the exact cause of vaccination rates dropping is not known, the negative side effects of lower rates are. Josie Piruzza is a pharmacist at Shopper’s Drug Mart and understands the implications of decreasing immunization.

“I believe in the herd effect (herd immunity), which means that you should vaccinate so you’re protecting everyone,” said Piruzza.

Herd immunity occurs when enough people in a community are immunized or vaccinated against a certain illness to prevent an outbreak from occurring if a few people do get sick. When not enough people in a community are protected, the spread of disease becomes easier. Research conducted by UNICEF has found that Canada’s overall immunization rate is at 84 per cent. For herd immunity to be effective in Canada, immunization must be at 95 per cent. In terms of influenza vaccinations, Canada’s overall vaccination rate for 2013 was 29.3%.

Canada has also seen a drop in the immunization rates for deadly and debilitating illnesses such as whooping cough, measles and polio, which are now reemerging into the general population.