Experts call for a measles ‘immunization action plan’ in Ontario

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By: Elizabeth Payne

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A committee of experts is calling on Ontario to launch an immunization action plan after the province experienced its largest measles outbreak in nearly three decades followed by Canada’s loss of measles exemption status late in 2025.

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Ontario’s Immunization Advisory Committee released a report proposing that the province launch the action plan to help increase vaccination uptake in Ontario, to address misinformation and to improve knowledge of where gaps exist.

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The committee, made up of infectious disease and public health experts and others, also joined calls for Ontario to modernize immunization information systems.  In 2024, the same group strongly urged the Ministry of Health to develop and implement a comprehensive provincial immunization registry. In 2025, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health also called for the modernization of the province’s vaccine registry, something numerous health experts have also pushed for.

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In a document titled An Immunization Action Plan for Ontario: Lessons from the Provincial Measles Outbreak, the committee said the measles outbreak highlighted challenges and weaknesses within Ontario’s public health system.

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“Outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing globally due in part to the slow recovery of immunization programs and rising vaccine hesitancy following the COVID-19 pandemic. Ontario, along with the rest of Canada, should continue to expect travel-associated measles cases and introduction of measles into susceptible populations,” the committee wrote.

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Its proposed immunization action plan is needed, the report said, to improve Ontario’s ability to prepare for and to respond to future outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases and to support efforts for Canada to regain its measles elimination status.

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Canada lost its measles elimination status last year after nearly three decades. The public health setback came after a measles outbreak that grew to more than 5,000 cases across the country, nearly half of them in Ontario.

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The status means Canada is no longer considered free of endemic measles for the first time since 1998, a public health setback. Public health officials have vowed to regain the status in Canada. The proposed immunization action plan is a step toward that goal, according to the committee.

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At the top of the recommendations is that the Ministry of Health urgently implements a comprehensive immunization registry to ensure easy access to immunization records for all Ontarians. An effort should also be made to collect immigration records from temporary residents, including students and migrant workers, it proposes.