June 28, 2019

The Government of British Columbia recently approved the Vaccine Status Reporting Regulation (the Regulation).

The introduction of the Regulation under the Public Health Act is Phase 2, in an effort to increase immunization rates in BC. Phase 1 was the Measles Catch-Up Program for school-age children, which is wrapping up at the end of June. Under the Regulation, every student from Kindergarten to Grade 12 in public and independent schools, and those who are home-schooled, will be expected to have their complete immunization records in the Provincial Immunization Registry.

The Regulation will come into force on July 1, 2019, and planning for implementation is already underway and will begin in late August with an Immunization Records Review conducted by public health for all school-age children. Only parents or guardians of children whose records are missing or incomplete will be contacted by public health and they will be provided with further instructions on how to proceed. The initial priority will be students in Kindergarten, Grade 6 and Grade 9, to ensure these school-age children continue to receive the age-appropriate vaccinations on schedule.

To date, we appreciate for your efforts in support of the measles Catch-Up Program, and we thank you in advance for assisting with the implementation of the Regulation. We will continue to share more information as the Ministry of Health progresses with the implementation of this regulation.

In the interim, more information on the Regulation can be found at ImmunizeBC, and HealthLinkBC.