Less than one school in ten in Quebec has achieved a vaccination coverage rate of more than 95% against measles, a percentage which confers collective immunity and prevents transmission of the virus. In Montreal, where the vaccination rate is very low in certain schools, vaccination is starting to intensify.
Across the province, only 7% of the approximately 3,000 schools had 1er last March, vaccination rates of more than 95% against measles, show figures that the Ministry of Education recently sent to the school community.
In Laval and the Laurentians, no school had reached this rate. Only two schools in Montreal had more than 95% of students and staff vaccinated against measles, three in Quebec.
However, “a vaccination coverage of 95% is associated with the notion of population immunity, which prevents epidemic transmission of the virus”, we read in a fact sheet from the Ministry of Health sent to the education network.
“Some regions and [certains] teaching environments reach this rate, but in general Quebec does not achieve this objective,” continues the Ministry of Health.
At the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, vaccination began on Thursday, with a first school. “We made the decision to vaccinate all the schools in our territory, because we have the capacity to do so,” said Geneviève Paradis, spokesperson for this CIUSSS. Therefore, 63 primary and secondary schools will be visited.
As for children who attend daycares, parents are invited to bring them to service points that offer vaccination. The measles vaccine is free.
CIUSSS de l’Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal schools will also all be targeted by a new vaccination campaign. This week alone, more than 6,000 calls were made to inform families that the vaccination record was not up to date, specifies its spokesperson, Alexandre Cadieux.
At the CIUSSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, vaccination will begin next Monday, March 18, and will continue every other day of the week.
“We will prioritize schools with vaccination coverage of less than 75% and which have 100 or more students to be vaccinated,” writes Clara Meagher, media relations advisor for this CIUSSS. Primary schools that have already been visited in the past will be visited again, she specifies.
At the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, not all schools will be targeted by a vaccination campaign. Rather, 21 schools were chosen, indicates its spokesperson Catherine Dion.
In several Montreal schools, student vaccination coverage is very low. According to Public Health figures, almost half of primary schools have a vaccination coverage rate below 75% (196 schools out of 396).
When there is a case of measles in a school, the person who is sick should be removed from school, along with those who have been in contact with them.
On February 6, a case was declared in a Montreal school and forced the withdrawal of 17 people.
The withdrawal was only necessary for one day, specifies the Montreal Regional Public Health Department (DRSP).
19 cases in Quebec
As of Thursday, 19 cases of measles had been reported in Quebec, the majority (14) being in Montreal. The regions of Laval, Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec and Laurentides have also listed cases.
During spring break, the list of places frequented by people with measles grew.
A grocery store on Ontario Street East, a daycare in Lachine, a medical clinic in the Villeray district and a climbing center in the Ahuntsic district were added to this list published on the Ministry of Health website, as was a pharmacy in Bois -des-Filion, in the Laurentians, and the Cité-de-la-Santé hospital in Laval.
Before last February, no case of measles had been reported in Quebec since 2019.
The main symptoms of the disease are high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, general malaise and redness first on the face and then on the body.
With Pierre-André Normandin, The Press