Students race to get health records updated

Health unit staff work into the night to process paperwork for updating records

It was hectic Tuesday at the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, as many of the 689 students suspended in the morning for having incomplete immunization records scurried to get updated so they could quickly return to school.

Staff at the health unit were working into the night to process the paperwork needed to remove students in grades 11 and 12 from the suspension list, which arrives at area high schools each morning.

By Tuesday night, that number was down to 398 students facing suspensions on Wednesday.

“Suspensions, while mandated by law through the Immunization of School Pupils Act, are a last resort for us,” said Stacy Manzerolle, manager of the health unit’s Healthy Schools program. “Although the suspensions can last up to 20 days, we are hoping students will update their records in a timely manner.”

The 9,600 local students in grades 11 and 12 are the second group targeted by the health unit as it attempts to ensure that all schoolaged children are immunized and have the records to prove it. Grade 3 students were the first last fall.

Suspended students have two ways to update their immunization records, the health unit said. They can either have their doctor provide proof to the health unit by calling or faxing the information, or they can bring the proof in person to offices on Ouellette Avenue, in Essex and in Leamington.

If suspended students wish to return to school the same day they update their record with the health unit, they will need to visit the health unit in person to obtain a rescind letter and present it to their school principal. Otherwise they may wait until the following school day.

The health unit continues to offer immunization clinics to schoolaged children at both the Windsor and Leamington offices by appointment. Call 519-258-2146, ext. 1222.

What’s generally missing from the Grade 11 and 12 students’ records are two shots: a booster shot for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis that they usually get between the ages of 14 and 16; and the Menactra vaccine for four types of meningitis, which kids are supposed to get in Grade 7.

Students can apply for an exemption, for medical or religious reasons for example, by filling out a form that’s available at the health unit.