Before the pandemic, nearly 90-percent of high school students in Toronto were up to date with their routine vaccinations.

Now, that number is at just 22-percent.

The statistics were presented at a Toronto Public Health meeting on Monday and account for vaccinations against measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, meningitis, tetanus, polio, pertussis and chicken pox.

As for elementary school children, almost 80-percent of grade 2 students were vaccinated in 2017-18 compared with just 43-percent in 2022-23.

Dr. Fahad Razak is general internist at Unity Health Toronto and a regular panelist on Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer.

He says these shots are for conditions that are very preventable and sometimes very serious.

“Measles, for example, we have seen outbreaks of measles in parts of Canada which historically, we’ve thought would never occur once you have a vaccine. But we do see that now once vaccination rates have dropped. Things like the HPV vaccine are very important for the long term health of these kids. So, things like oral cancers and cervical cancers, so there is a real drop off that we need to address,” Dr. Razak explained.

There are several reasons for the dramatic decrease in vaccination rates.

Toronto’s Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vinita Dubey says in some cases, students are vaccinated but have not reported their immunization, while in others parents could not access primary care providers for their children during the pandemic.