Immunize BC

Every day, immunization saves lives and helps to prevent illness and disability associated with many communicable diseases. The Ministry of Health Services, the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport, the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), regional health authorities and health care providers across the province all have a role to play to ensure the people of British Columbia are able to protect and promote their individual and community health through immunization.

Since the introduction of the first vaccine programs in British Columbia there has been a marked reduction in the morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases. No other medical intervention has contributed so profoundly to population health. In BC, the first publicly funded vaccine was introduced in 1907 and now 100 years later, the BC immunization schedule is comprised of vaccines that protect against 14 infectious diseases including diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis A and B, meningococcal disease, pneumococcal disease, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and influenza. Four new vaccine programs have been introduced since 2003 alone: pneumococcal, meningococcal group C, and varicella in the infant program and acellular pertussis in the adolescent program.

As new vaccines become available, Immunize BC will continue to weigh the costs and benefits to determine the most effective methodology with which to deliver these vaccines.

For more information on British Columbia's immunization program and vaccine schedules, please visit Immunize BC's webpage at http://www.immunizebc.ca/