28% of kindergarten students in N.B. fail to meet immunization requirements

Only 71.8 per cent of students provided proof of full immunization against nine diseases

More than a quarter of New Brunswick kindergarten students did not meet the immunization requirements to enter public school in 2023-24, the latest figures from the Department of Health show.

Only 71.8 per cent of students provided proof of full immunization against nine diseases, including measles, mumps and meningococcal disease, as required under the Public Health Act, according to the School Immunization Program report.

That means nearly 2,000 four- and five-year-olds did not, based on Department of Education data.Vaccination rates are down from 2022-23, when 73.9 per cent of kindergarten students met the requirements, but up from 61.4 per cent in 2021-22.

The report does not provide vaccination rates for older students and neither department responded to a request for those figures.