A deadline looms for thousands of parents in the region.
Elementary students can get suspended beginning on March 27 if their immunization records are not up to date.
Waterloo Public Health saw an influx of patients getting their shots on Tuesday, the day before the deadline—over 100 people per day over the last five days.
“We’re running drop-in clinics every day this week, we ran them last week as well, we know it’s hard to take your kids out of school and take time off of work but we try to make it as easy for parents to come in and get their shots,” says David Aoki, manager of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Altogether, students born in 2010 or later are required to get vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease, whooping cough and chicken pox.
It’s worth noting that some of these vaccines are couple together, meaning these students don’t necessarily need nine separate shots.
In February, over 6,000 suspension notices were given out, reminding parents to update their children’s records.
Suspensions can last up to 20 days, but Public Health says it’s been working with parents to get records in order as soon as they can.
Parents who want vaccination exemptions have to provide a written exemption letter to the organization.
