The Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit (CKPHU) is urging parents who home school their children to keep up-to-date on vaccines.
Every year, nurses from CKPHU are required to review and assess the immunization status of students enrolled in Chatham-Kent daycares and schools through the Immunization of School Pupils Act. If nurses find that there are incomplete or not up-to-date immunization records, parents or guardians will be notified to provide the required information.
However, Vaccine Preventable Disease Nurse Cheryl Craven explains that the Public Health Unit may not have immunization records for home-schooled kids on file to make sure they're properly vaccinated. It is also not the responsibility of health care providers to notify the Public Health Unit of this information.
"We feel all vaccines are important and play a role in the health of students who attend public schools, as well as home schools. What we look for is just having parents report the immunizations to the Public Health Unit once they're received," explains Craven.
Craven says Hepatitis B, Meningococcal, and Human Papillomavirus vaccines are offered free of charge to students through school-based immunization programs. She adds that home-schooled students may not be aware that they can receive these vaccinations for free as well.
"Those students who are home-schooled and do miss those vaccines through the school-based programs can call the Public Health Unit and we would work with them to book them into an appointment here at the health unit... then we would provide those vaccines as the parent wishes," says Craven.
Craven says many vaccines are often required to attend post secondary education and parents who wait to vaccinate their children may miss out on being eligible for free immunization programs. She adds that vaccines also play an important role in preventing and protecting against serious diseases.
