The Big Story Is Canada missing the mark on vaccination awareness?
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Nov 11, 2025 Dr. Barry Pakes, a public health physician and Program Director at the University of Toronto, discusses Canada's recent loss of measles elimination status after nearly 30 years. He explains how vaccination accessibility issues, misinformation, and declining trust contributed to the outbreak of over 5,100 cases. Dr. Pakes emphasizes the importance of a national electronic vaccine registry and targeted strategies to improve coverage. He remains cautiously optimistic about regaining elimination status but acknowledges the challenges of achieving >95% vaccination rates.
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What Measles Elimination Actually Means
- Measles elimination means no endemic transmission for 12 months and high two-dose coverage over 95%.
- Canada lost status because of continuous transmission and insufficient demonstrable vaccine coverage.
Outbreak Origin And Community Spread
- The outbreak began with an imported case in October and spread across nine provinces and one territory.
- Many Ontario cases were concentrated in a religious community with low vaccination uptake.
Small Coverage Drops Have Big Consequences
- Vaccine hesitancy and misinformation have marginally reduced coverage but enough to undermine measles control.
- Small drops matter because measles requires ~95% two-dose coverage to stop transmission.