B.C. childhood vaccination rates remain stubbornly stuck in a slump that began during COVID-19, according to data collected by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

But experts say the lingering effects of the pandemic, when some vaccines were hard to access, are only part of the reason for the slide.

As many British Columbians received text messages urging them to book their seasonal flu and COVID shots this week, provincewide immunization data shows a “small-to-medium decline” in routine childhood vaccination rates since 2021, said Dr. Jia Hu, interim medical director of immunization programs at the BCCDC.

The drop is most pronounced among seven-year-olds, with more than one-third of second-graders not up-to-date on routine immunizations like mumps and measles, according to the da

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