CLINIC VACCINATION POLICY

INTRODUCTION

Vaccinations help populations avoid preventable diseases. According to the World Health Organisation, vaccinations save between two and three million lives annually and prevent the suffering of many more. Due to vaccinations, we have eradicated smallpox, and have come close to achieving the same with polio. Measles, once a common occurrence, was eliminated in Canada in 1998 due to our immunization program. Part of the efficacy of vaccinations stems from the group immunity we gain (i.e. herd immunity), which creates a barrier of protection to stop infectious diseases from reaching at-risk members of the population.

Unfortunately, when an administered vaccine successfully prevents a given disease, people may overlook the significance of this achievement. When these largely eradicated diseases are not frequently seen, the continuing need to protect children and the population at large from such diseases becomes less obvious. While most Canadian parents are vaccinating their children on schedule, some are delaying, or even refusing the vaccinations. 

One reason for the hesitancy among parents over vaccination is due to a study in 1998 linking the measles-mumps-and-rubella vaccine to autism. The findings were deemed fraudulent, the study was retracted, and the doctor’s license was revoked; yet the idea continues to concern parents today. Since then, many studies have explored this idea of a causal relationship between vaccination and autism, but no study has been able to find evidence of this. 

Unfortunately, Canadian experts say measles cases have resurged in recent years, mainly due to the growing number of parents who refuse or delay vaccinating their children.  When families refuse to vaccinate, physicians must assess the risk this may pose to other patients - particularly children who may be too young or too ill to get immunized. Some North American paediatricians have even begun dismissing families who refuse to vaccinate their children.

OUR POLICY

At Magenta Health, we strongly recommend all patients stay up to date on their immunizations absent specific medical reasons to the contrary. As a reminder, we vaccinate to protect ourselves, as well as our families, friends, and extended community members through herd immunity. When we ourselves get vaccinated, our entire communities benefit from the safety net of this herd immunity. This protects vulnerable individuals such as children, the elderly, patients with cancer, pregnant women, patients with diabetes, and immunocompromised patients.

Magenta Health recognizes its responsibility to protect more vulnerable patients from those who have chosen not to vaccinate against medical advice. Accordingly, if you choose to deny or delay parts of the Canada-wide vaccination program for your child, we are putting in effect precautionary measures to protect all other visitors to the clinic.

Starting December 2021, patients or their legal guardians, who refuse or delay their immunizations against the advice of their family physician, will be unable to freely book in-person appointments using our online scheduling system.

Instead, they will only be able to schedule virtual (phone/video) appointments through their physician’s standard booking page. Please be advised that you will see options for booking in-person appointments, but our system will prevent you from booking into these options.

During your child’s virtual appointment, their physician will advise on next steps, including determining if they need to be seen in-person. Their physician will alert our admin team to this request, and our team will work with you to schedule your child into an in-person appointment from a pre-set list of time slots, based on when there is likely to be the fewest number of vulnerable patients in the waiting room. 

If your child’s physician does not have sufficient virtual availability, they will only be able to request in-person appointments via a form, instead of our standard online scheduling pages.

When your form submission request is received, our team will work with you to schedule your child into an in-person appointment from a pre-set list of time slots, based on when there is likely to be the fewest number of vulnerable patients in the waiting room.

While we understand that some patients may be upset to learn that we will continue to allow under-vaccinated patients into the clinic, Magenta Health does this with our sense of responsibility to our communities. Denying any patient from sound healthcare may only serve to deepen anti-vaccination pockets in our wider localities.