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In addition to calling for proof of vaccination, the CMA board endorsed a multi-year plan to increase immunization rates. Simpson said requiring parents to provide proof of their child’s immunization against designated diseases alone isn’t sufficient, noting that even Ontario, with its mandated model, misses national targets.

“The big thing for us is going to be on the vaccine hesitant,” Simpson said. “We can say until we’re blue in the face that immunization programs have saved more lives than any other health intervention … (that) doesn’t reassure people when they’re hearing other people that they trust, and particularly (celebrities), who are saying otherwise,” Simpson said.

He said parents have forgotten the benefits of vaccines, and the days when “there was a kid with polio in every neighbourhood at any given time.” Measles is more than a “nuisance” disease, he added. In rare cases, it can kill.

Vaccine rates in some pockets of the country, Simpson said, are dropping below those necessary for herd immunity, meaning the number of children needed to be vaccinated to stop the spread of a virus.

We can say until we’re blue in the face that immunization programs have saved more lives than any other health intervention … (that) doesn’t reassure people when they’re hearing other people that they trust, and particularly (celebrities), who are saying otherwise

Despite his frustrations, Simpson said it’s important to “move away from the blame-and-shame approach and toward, ‘how can we give you (parents) the information and the reassurance you need?’”

Simpson said the CMA board has no position, for or against, religious or conscientious objection. “The decision of the board was simply to be silent on that for now,” he said. “It may come up — and I expect it will come up — for discussion at general council.”