Doctors fear CDC vaccine recommendation changes will fuel vaccine hesitancy in Canada

Doctors say the sweeping changes to the childhood vaccine schedule in the U.S. will fuel hesitancy that will cross the border into Canada.

Ontario Medical Association President Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman says she is most worried about the confusion that parents may feel when they see that the U.S. and Canada have different immunization recommendations for kids.

She says that confusion can drive misinformation, causing the rise of serious illnesses that are preventable. 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its routine vaccine schedule on Monday, reducing the number of recommended shots.

Several long-standing vaccines that prevent illnesses such as rotavirus and meningococcal disease are no longer recommended for all children by the CDC. Neither are the flu and RSV shots. 

Instead, they're either recommended for "certain high-risk groups" or "based on shared clinical decision-making."

Abdurrahman says Canada’s vaccine schedule remains based in science, and unless there is a change in evidence, the schedule will stay the same. 

Immunologist Dawn Bowdish says any seeds of doubt among parents in the U.S. tend to spread into Canada.

She says her message to parents is that information coming out of the United States is no longer reliable.

“It pains me to say that, because historically the CDC was a world leader that the entire world could turn to for good information.”

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette