Canada’s leading pediatrician says she’s hopeful vaccination rates will rise with better response to measles vaccinations after fewer than 300 cases of the disease were reported.
Toronto’s top doctor, Dr. Theresa Tam, told “Fox & Friends” she expects the vaccine rate for individuals aged 6 to 23 months to climb within weeks after three three-dose doses of the vaccine — which also protects against varicella (chickenpox) and the Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection — are given for $110.
“We could see positive vaccination rates if kids are well-prepared and responsible,” she said, adding that the $60 cost has lowered parents’ hesitance to inoculate their children.
More than half of Canadian children can now receive three doses of vaccines – which Tam notes are cost-effective measures.
Those three vaccinations combined will protect nearly 90 percent of Canada’s population against measles and 40 percent against four strains of the Hib bacterium, a strain of bacteria that infects more than 100 million people annually in Europe, Canada and the United States.
Dr. Tam has faced harsh criticism after calling some parents who do not immunize their children “disgusting” and “stupid.”
Earlier this year, experts said the number of cases of measles has decreased in Canada and around the world, but new vaccine-preventable illnesses are emerging.
Measles is returning to western Europe and the UK has warned more than 1,000 cases are expected this year, with the number increasing through the summer months.