It's National Immunization Awareness Week in Canada. A statement from Health Canada says vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles continue to cause outbreaks globally, and gaps in routine immunization can allow these infections to re-emerge in Canada.
Mari Ingram, Public Health Services Manager with Prairie Mountain Health, said immunizations don't only protect you, but those around you.
"Immunizations reduce the chance of spreading diseases to others, and help protect those who are too young to be immunized, those who are unable to be immunized for medical reasons, as well as those with weakened immune systems," said Ingram.
She said people often ask PMH a wide variety of questions about immunizations.
"Many questions we get are, where can I get immunizations, and which immunizations am I eligble for," said Ingram.
Ingram said that PMH offers a variety of immunizations, both routine and as required.
"Through PMH, all vaccinations that are available on the Manitoba Health routine immunization list can be provided to people. Those include childhood immunization, school-age immunizations, as well as vaccines for adults," said Ingram.
One of the most important benefits of immunizations is protecting those who can't get immunized themselves. Ingram said the population that can't get immunized is very diverse.
"Lots of time it is those folks that are going through cancer treatment and they're immune-suppressed, or due to some medications that they need to take. Also there are vaccines that some babies are too young to receive, for instance the measles vaccine can only be given to children age 6 months and up, so those that are under 6 months are considered at risk for that," said Ingram.
Routine immunization is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of disease. According to Health Canada, the 5 year average for the number of Measles cases in the pre-vaccine era was 53,584. The same average from 2018 to 2022 was 29 cases.
Click here to view Manitoba Health's list of routine immunizations.
