Winnipeg mom wants province to make it easier to access vaccine records amid measles uptick

A Winnipeg woman who has been trying to access her children's vaccine records this week is hoping the province will make it easier for people to get that information as cases of measles keep popping up in Canada. 

While no cases have been confirmed in the province as of Thursday, Meghan Waters is making sure her two sons' vaccinations are up to date in order to protect those around them, including their nine-month-old sister who isn't eligible for the vaccine yet.

Waters says the avenues to get that information could be more clear. 

"You see on the news that a very contagious and preventable disease is running around," she said. "You just want to double check." 

Waters said while the chances are "pretty good" she and her sons are up to date on their vaccines, and they go to all their regular check-ups, now she wants to be absolutely sure.

Waters called her health-care provider at Access St. Boniface earlier this week and was referred by a receptionist to call Manitoba Health. Waters phoned and chose the French option, but the line went dead and when she selected English, she got a message saying call volumes were high and to try again later. 

"I'm on maternity leave [so] I'll just have it on speaker phone and wait, right?" she said. "But the line went dead and I was like, 'OK, I'll guess I'll just call back later,' which is a little bit weird."

After posting Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter, she made an appointment with a nurse practitioner to go into the doctor's office thanks to some help from others on the social network. Now, she's got an appointment booked for May 1 to check the vaccine records. 

Top doctor wants process to be easier 

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer, told CBC News Thursday that reminders are being mailed to parents whose children are behind on their vaccines. He also said he's encouraged to hear people are reaching out to check. 

"I expect that people are reaching out, which certainly, it puts a bit of strain there, but it's also important that people are paying attention to this and hearing the messaging," he said. 

The province says records can be requested online or by calling the local public health office, while people immunized before 1988 would have to speak with their doctor.

Roussin says physicians can give people their vaccine history, but only in person. He also said public health would like to make it easier for people to get this information.

"These … are the type of things that can improve access to some people and improve some of the workload on the system as well," he said. 

Another option to get those records could be going to a pharmacy. 

Pharmacies typically only access vaccine history during COVID-19 and flu shots, and can't give measles shots. However, some pharmacies can make a request and provide people with their vaccination records. 

"We can access the vaccine records — tell them if they've … had a documented [measles, mumps and rubella] vaccine," said Jason Hoeppner, pharmacist and owner of the Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy. 

"I don't want to be blamed for pharmacies being overwhelmed with people coming to ask for their vaccine records," he said.

"But, I mean, at the same time it's  something that people are concerned about and, with our patients, if they have that question, we're happy to answer for them if they bring in their Manitoba health card." 

Hoeppner also said he's also recommending patients call their doctor's office to get their records. 

Manitoba Public Health says 80 per cent of two-year-olds had received at least one dose of the measles vaccine at the end of 2022, and nearly 75 per cent of seven-year-olds had two doses. 

Additionally, nearly 88 per cent of 13-year-olds and 89 per cent of 17-year-olds had two doses. The province says that's similar to the rate for people born in 1985 or later.

People who can't get through to public health should keep trying, Roussin said, and Waters hopes to confirm her children's vaccine status before the May 1 appointment she has booked. 

"To me, I would probably just make sure you had more people working the phones that day so the lines don't go dead," she said.