November 4, 2019 

Dear Parents and Guardians 

Re: Requirements under BC’s New Vaccination Status Reporting Regulation 

BC’s new Vaccination Status Reporting Regulation came into effect on July 1, 2019. It supports the gathering of immunization records by public health. The regulation applies to all students in all schools within the Province’s jurisdiction. This includes international students and those who are home-schooled. It does not apply to children attending schools in First Nations communities. 

In the coming months, public health staff will check the immunization records we have on file for school age children. They will identify children whose records are missing or incomplete. Families of these children may be contacted. They will be asked to provide us with the immunization information required under the regulation. We will also let families know where children can receive immunizations. 

Public health units already have complete immunization records on file for most children. For this reason, most families will not be contacted or need to take any action. If you are contacted, it may only mean that we need to update some information in our files. It may not mean that your child is missing immunizations. 

Gathering this information is important. It helps us to respond quickly to outbreaks in schools and helps everyone get back to learning as soon as possible. 

For more information, please visit https://immunizebc.ca/vaccination-status-reporting-regulation. 

Thank you for helping to keep our children and communities healthy. 

Sincerely, 

Mark Lysyshyn, MD, MPH, FRCPC 

Medical Health Officer 

Vancouver Coastal Health, North Shore 

VCH letter from MHO to all parents - NS Nov. 4, 2019.pdf