The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit says there are 2,593 elementary school students that are at risk of school suspension on March 1 due to missing vaccinations or immunization records.
WECHU indicates that the updated records have to be submitted to the health unit as required by the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) R.S.O.1990 (ISPA). The deadline for parents/guardians to submit student immunization records to the WECHU is 6 p.m. on Wednesday Feb. 28.
Under the ISPA , some children can be exempted from immunization for medical reasons or due to conscience or religious belief.
In the fall of 2023, the WECHU completed a review of all student immunization records and sent out 6,448 notices to elementary students indicating that they were either overdue for vaccines required to attend school, or their immunization records were not updated with the WECHU. Families who recently received suspension notices are encouraged to contact their health care provider or the WECHU. The WECHU is offering families a variety of clinics, with some evening and Saturday appointments.
Families across Windsor and Essex County, can avoid their student being suspended from school, through these options:
Contact the student’s health care provider to receive any missing vaccinations and/or obtain missing immunization documents (please share the notice received from the health unit with the health care provider). And report the updated immunization information to the WECHU. Health care providers are not required to do this.
Submitting updated immunization records to the WECHU:
Secure Online Reporting at immune.wechu.org. An Instructional video for families is available on YouTube.Translation into multiple languages available through closed captioning.
