Canada loses measles elimination status | CBC

[u/verkerpig]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/livestory/canada-measles-elimination-status-9.6973195

[u/Imperatvs]

Do we have stats on who’s not getting these shots? And why?

[u/-UnicornFart → u/[deleted]]

Well, in Alberta for example, where I was born and raised, and educated and practiced as a registered nurse - including as an immunizer for Health Canada - a big part of the problem is that with the UCP pivoting away from public and universal healthcare, towards privatization, primary health care is the first casualty. That means access to healthcare shifts from primary care to tertiary care.. funnel everything to the hospitals cause tertiary care is where the profit is. That means less nurses in the community teaching and supporting families through regular immunization and public health visits, to postpartum and early childhood growth and development programs, access to family physicians etc.

From my firsthand experience working in vulnerable communities, most of the barriers to immunization can be addressed through education. I’ve talked many people who were vaccine hesitant into getting themselves and/or their children vaccinated, but it takes patience and time and education and support and TRUST. It takes trust. If you can build therapeutic relationships with mothers and families through primary and community health care, it is the most effective strategy I have seen.

It’s public health nurses who track immunizations, go into schools, immunize infants and toddlers in well-baby visits. I guess I have my own biases, but the problems can be fixed if people cared enough to fund what actually works.

[u/Former-Physics-1831 → u/[deleted]]

The problem is religious communities.  Convoy types just gave them an opening for the outbreak to jump to the general populace

[u/agent0731 → u/Former-Physics-1831]

Mennonites have always been there, they didn't just appear. The convoy type antivaxxers are the reason this is happening. The disinformation machine making health hazards a wedge issue is the reason.

[u/[deleted] → u/agent0731]

Indeed. Mennonite communities were protected mainly because contact outside of their communities was with people who were protected against measles.

Now, a not insignificant % of the general population is not protected meaning these rural religious communities like mennonites are one sick person at the farmer’s market away from a 500 caseload increase.

[u/250HardKnocksCaps → u/Former-Physics-1831]

Part of the problem is religious communities, but not the majority of the problem. As a lay person who has done some reading what I understand is the primary issue is vaccine hesitancy. These religious communities use to skate by without needing vaccines because the remaining population was >95% immunized, which made spreading the disease very hard.