The provincial government's efforts to immunize school-aged children in B.C. against the measles is in full swing.&nbsp;

As of May 6, 29 cases of measles have been reported this year in B.C.&nbsp;

The Ministry of Health&nbsp;said&nbsp;it has administered more than 13,515 doses of measles vaccine to children&nbsp;since January.

Province launching measles immunization program in B.C. schools

The Ministry of Health is rolling out an immunization program in schools beginning in April to help B.C. families ensure their children are protected from measles.

The Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is usually given to children between four to six years of age and the onus is on parents have to report that their child has been vaccinated.

measles vaccinations

Health Minister Adrian Dix said the ministry has distributed more than&nbsp;550,000 letters to parents and reviewed 400,000 records.

Those children requiring vaccinations were directed to&nbsp;in-school clinics (129 in total)&nbsp;or&nbsp;community clinics&nbsp;(1,343 in total).&nbsp;

The ministry said&nbsp;it is&nbsp;planning further immunization clinics to target students whose records showed they were underimmunized or unimmunized.&nbsp;

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The ministry said&nbsp;it will continue to offer the clinics throughout May and June with&nbsp;594 in-school clinics, 1,912 public health clinics and an additional 148 community immunization clinics planned.

"The program in May and June is going to be extensive. [You're going to see] clinics in the thousands with a large number of in-school clinics," Dix said.&nbsp;

"Every child that needs to be immunized will have the opportunity to be immunized."

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Officials say anyone who's already had the measles should be safe, while those born before 1970 are assumed to be immune. For everyone else, it depends on your age and where you grew up. The best protection against the disease is two doses of the MMR vaccine.

Noushin Azizi received an MMR booster shot Tuesday at Vancouver's City Centre urgent primary care centre.

Noushin Azizi MMR measles vaccine

In a statement, the ministry said&nbsp;it will be introducing mandatory reporting of vaccination status starting in the fall of 2019, but details on the reporting requirement have yet to be announced.&nbsp;

The Ministry of Health says it has administered more than 13,515 doses of measles vaccine to children since January.

Over 13,515 doses of measles vaccine distributed in B.C. since January

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