PREPARED BY: Immunization
DATE: 2026-03-12
SUBJECT: PHO and Local Immunization Coverage Rates 2024-2025 School Year
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
Under Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) and the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS), health units are required to maintain complete immunization records or valid medical, conscience, or religious exemptions for all students attending school. The WECHU supports compliance through a progressive and collaborative enforcement approach, including advance notification and education for families, with school suspensions issued only when required documentation is not provided by established deadlines.
In addition to ISPA requirements, the WECHU delivers the provincially funded Grade 7 school-based immunization program, offering Meningococcal, Hepatitis B, and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines at no cost. While Meningococcal vaccination is required to attend school in Ontario, Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines are strongly recommended as evidence-based cancer prevention measures.
DISCUSSION
Immunization Coverage Trends: Local and Provincial Comparison
Updated data from Public Health Ontario’s Immunization Data Tool, alongside WECHU’s local immunization dashboard, demonstrate the value of timely and accurate data in monitoring vaccine coverage, identifying gaps, and guiding public health action.Overall, Windsor and Essex County (WEC) vaccination coverage rates remain above provincial averages for all publicly funded vaccines across key age cohorts. For the 2024-2025 school year, WEC immunization coverage rates remained above provincial averages for most publicly funded vaccines, including 7-year-olds and 17-year-olds. Among 12-year-olds, local coverage for Hepatitis B and HPV continued to exceed Ontario averages, while Meningococcal coverage was slightly below the provincial rate. Compared to the previous year, Hepatitis B and HPV uptake declined locally, consistent with province-wide trends, however, WEC rates remain above the provincial average. Detailed vaccine-specific comparisons are provided in Table 1 below. Overall, these findings demonstrate strong local performance while highlighting specific areas for continued focus.
| Disease | Birth Year (7-year-olds) | WEC data (%) | PHO reported WEC Data (%) | ON (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diphtheria | 2017 | 89.1 | 89.2 | 77.3 |
| Measles | 2017 | 89.6 | 90.3 | 78.4 |
| Meningococcal Disease | 2017 | 92.6 | 95.1 | 83.6 |
| Mumps | 2017 | 89.3 | 90 | 78 |
| Pertussis | 2017 | 89.1 | 89.2 | 77.2 |
| Polio | 2017 | 89.1 | 88 | 75.6 |
| Rubella | 2017 | 93.5 | 95.8 | 86.1 |
| Tetanus | 2017 | 89.8 | 89.2 | 77.3 |
| Varicella | 2017 | 88.5 | 88.7 | 76.4 |
| Disease | Birth Year (17 year olds) | WEC data | PHO reported WEC Data | ON |
| Diphtheria | 2007 | 90.5 | 84.3 | 68.3 |
| Hepatitis B | 2007 | 70.9 | 72 | 64.3 |
| HPV | 2007 | 65.5 | 63.7 | 54.3 |
| Measles | 2007 | 93.4 | 94.4 | 91.7 |
| Meningococcal Disease | 2007 | 94.1 | 93.4 | 78.4 |
| Mumps | 2007 | 93.3 | 94.3 | 91.4 |
| Pertussis | 2007 | 90.5 | 84.4 | 68.6 |
| Polio | 2007 | 93.1 | 91.5 | 89.7 |
| Rubella | 2007 | 94.8 | 95.5 | 94 |
| Tetanus | 2007 | 90.5 | 84.3 | 68.3 |
| Varicella | 2007 | 53.9 | NA | |
| Disease | Birth Year (12 year olds) | WEC data | PHO reported WEC Data | ON |
| Hepatitis B | 2012 | 71.6 | 65.5 | 61 |
| HPV | 2012 | 62.9 | 55 | 53 |
| Meningococcal Disease | 2012 | 84.6 | 84.5 | 88.1 |
Notes
- Data extracts may differ due to timing or slightly different inclusion and validation rules (e.g., Up-to-Date [UTD] definitions), which can cause modest discrepancies in reported coverage locally and by PHO.
- UTD immunization coverage rates are based on PHO’s reports using person-level records to calculate the proportion of students who received the required doses by age at assessment. Coverage rates for the most recent school year use Panorama Enhanced Analytical Reporting (PEAR) forecaster compliance reports, which provide aggregate estimates of compliance at the time of report generation (non-compliant = due or overdue for a vaccine). These two methods are not identical; therefore, PHO reported WEC data and Local ISPA school-year data differ.
- Bolded numbers in the table highlight where significant differences exist between the locally calculated WEC data and the subsequently released PHO WEC data.
Hepatitis B and HPV: Areas for Continued Focus
Although Hepatitis B and HPV immunization coverage in WEC remains above provincial averages, declining uptake highlights the need for strengthened engagement. Current strategies include Grade 6 in-class education sessions, parent and student educational videos introduced last year, active engagement and communication with vaccine providers in the community, and ongoing public awareness messaging.
Planned areas of focus include:
- Refining educational messaging to emphasize that Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines are strongly recommended for long-term health, including their role in cancer prevention.
- Implementing targeted strategies to improve HPV uptake among males, where coverage remains lower than among females.
- Increasing alignment of messaging across public health, schools, healthcare providers, and digital communication channels.
Exemptions
Exemption rates among 7-year-olds in WEC (0.17–0.35%) exceed provincial levels (0.05–0.12%), largely driven by non-medical exemptions. Among 17-year-olds, exemption rates are slightly lower than the provincial average. Factors contributing to the persistence of non-medical exemptions may include vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, access barriers, administrative delays, newcomer populations with incomplete records, and COVID-era impacts on trust.
The WECHU maintains standardized exemption processes to meet legislative requirements, while also working to reduce non-medical exemptions by strengthening education outreach, and early engagement with families. Planned enhancements include multilingual resources (with priority for Low German speaking families), parent education sessions, and earlier engagement with families, particularly for children under seven years of age through childcare centres and healthcare provider partnerships. In an effort to enhance client experience the WECHU immunization staff received education about Trauma Informed Care and additional training on ways to better support students with behavioral disabilities creating a positive overall experience for the student, in hopes of contributing to lower local non-medical exemption rates.