The Time is Now to Address the Routine Immunization Gap

(Toronto – April 26, 2022) – Today, Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce released the following statement to mark National Immunization Awareness Week taking place from April 23-30, 2022.

“Immunization is one of the most important and cost-effective public health innovations. In Canada, immunization has saved more lives than any other health intervention.

“This National Immunization Awareness Week, we call on the Province of Ontario to prioritize routine immunizations – for children and adults – that have declined sharply during COVID-19.

“Ontario has been a leader in COVID-19 vaccination implementation, leveraging expanded access points, uniting health professionals, launching a robust public awareness campaign, and tracking immunization through a modernized system to ensure broad protection against COVID-19. It’s time to do the same for all routine immunizations.

“The magnitude of pandemic disruptions to routine immunizations will require similar efforts as Ontario’s COVID-19 campaign.  We call on the Government of Ontario to build on lessons learned through COVID-19 to:

• Develop a communications plan to drive awareness of missed routine immunizations with a clear call to action to get vaccinated.
• Expand points of access for routine immunizations to include allied health care settings such as pharmacies.
• Provide all immunizers with vaccination targets to monitor outcomes and address gaps when targets are not met.
• Establish an integrated and centralized electronic immunization database for vaccines, accessible by all healthcare providers.

“Delays in routine immunizations have consequences on our health care system, labour force and economy. If routine immunizations are not prioritized, it could lead to the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases, further straining a health care system and labour force that is already brushing up against capacity constraints.”

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About the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

For more than a century, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been the independent, non-partisan, indispensable partner of Ontario business. The OCC’s mission is to support economic growth in Ontario by defending business priorities at Queen’s Park on behalf of its network’s diverse 60,000 members.

For more information, please contact:
Andrea Carmona
Manager, Public Affairs
andreacarmona@occ.ca| Mobile: (647) 234-0255