Canadian adults falling behind on vaccinations

It is World Immunization Week, and while many parents keep up with their children’s vaccines, according to the latest government survey and none of Canada’s national vaccination coverage, goals for adults have been met to date, which means that many Canadians are likely missing some important shots. I think that once you become an adult, you forget that immunizations are still essential and important, a common one. Most people forget an adult needs a tetanus shot every 10 years, and while that seems so insignificant, you know, during COVID. I saw plenty of patients, you know, virtually mostly who had cut themselves being baking sourdough bread or doing renovations. And that simple laceration that may not have needed medical attention became really, really complicated if their tetanus wasn’t updated. Doctor Christine Paul May says for those 50 and older shingles is another vaccine preventable illness that should be top of mind. There’s also long term complications that we can’t forget. So shingles can lead to chronic pain, You know, it can increase your risk of stroke and heart attack. In addition, she says adults should not overlook travel vaccines, plus should be vaccinated against hepatitis, BHPV, pneumonia and meningitis, not to mention annual influenza shots and COVID-19 shots. She says in her experience, the reason many adults aren’t vaccinated against some of these is simply a lack of awareness. I think that hesitancy or being against vaccines is less of a problem then patients simply not knowing what they are due for. So I think constant discussions with your healthcare provider is absolutely essential. Problem is, is that many Ontario residents don’t have a family doctor. So speaking to pharmacists, you know the scope of primary care has expanded. Nurse practitioners. There’s some wonderful credible websites immunized Canada. So by far I think education and awareness is what we need to target as a public health system. Another reason people might not know or forget about such vaccinations is because of the success of the vaccines themselves. We have the luxury of being so far removed from these vaccine preventable diseases. They’ve become a distant memory. And I think we have to remind ourselves that these vaccines protect against serious disease. It’s not just the chickenpox, it’s chicken pox that may lead to pneumonia, may lead to meningitis, may lead to hearing loss. That sounds like a catastrophic rare outcome, but they really aren’t. And I think as a community, we have a public health duty to protect those at risk. Dilshad, Berman City News.