Nearly 500 students in Lambton, Chatham-Kent suspended for incomplete immunization records

500 students across Lambton County and Chatham-Kent have been suspended for not having updated immunization records. Bryan Bicknell explains.

Nearly 500 elementary and secondary students across Lambton County and Chatham-Kent have been suspended from school because their families failed to produce up-to-date immunization records by Tuesday’s deadline.

It’s an issue that continues to cause both disagreement and concern among families and members of the public.

“I have a nephew who is actually immunocompromised. I would prefer him to be safe when he goes to school,” said Sarnia resident Krista Starr.

“I agree, vaccinations are required, but I also think people should have the option on whether to do it or not,” said parent Hayley Zimmerman.

“We need them in order to lessen the impact of different diseases that are communicable, that are prevalent in schools, in the community,” said Bane Proulx, a student in the Social Service Worker Program at Lambton College.

According to Chatham-Kent Public Health, 193 elementary and secondary school children in the jurisdiction have been suspended from school because of incomplete immunization records.

Lambton Public Health says approximately 300 students in its catchment area have been suspended due to incomplete immunization records.

Parents or guardians are required under provincial law to report immunizations or valid exemptions for the following diseases: tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease, and varicella (chickenpox).

“If a child presented to school with a vaccine-preventable illness, it could in fact cause an outbreak, and a lot of people could get sick. And more importantly, people that cannot be protected against the illness because they can’t get vaccinated would be very vulnerable. So, we want to ensure that those people are protected as well,” explained Carshenan Lai, health protection supervisor at Lambton Public Health.

The new data from local health units follows last year’s resurgence of measles across the country - a disease that had essentially been wiped out in Canada. According to the federal government Health Info-Base, in 2025 there were more than 5,000 reported cases of measles in Canada.

“Public Health Ontario, the immunization data tool shows us that vaccination coverage for measles and all of the nine different diseases that are required for school, vaccination rates in Lambton County are above the provincial average,” said Lai.

Public health officials cite multiple factors for incomplete immunization records, including busy lifestyle, religious beliefs, and vaccine hesitancy.

“Let’s just, you know, let the kids go, learn, maybe do what they need to do. Let’s hope that the parents can actually make a good decision for their kids,” said parent and grandparent Wes Davidson.

Local school boards say they’re working closely with health units to meet immunization requirements, and with families to help support compliance.