Catching Up With Confidence. That is the theme of this year’s National Immunization Awareness Week.

Across the country, data is showing that children born between 2019 and 2021 are more likely to be behind on routine immunizations that protect against infections with serious complications, like polio.

For example, Medicial Health Officer in Yorkton, Dr Ashok Chherti, says in 2019, the province saw an 89-percent vaccination rate against whooping cough in children, while that rate drop to roughly 80-percent in 2022.

Dr Chhert adds that vaccination rates have dropped over the last few years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Manitoba, Chief Provincial Health Officier Dr. Brent Roussin notes that clinic hours across the province are being extended to help catch up on these vaccinations, adding that vaccinations are one of the safest and most effective public health tools available to us.