Manitoba kids are getting ready to head back to the classroom, which often comes with some early-school-year sick days as they’re once again exposed to many other children in confined spaces.
In the Southern Health Region, officials are encouraging parents to get their kids’ vaccinations up to date, as there are larger concerns there than the common cold.
The region’s recent population health assessment says it has the lowest numbers in the province when it comes to childhood immunizations for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shots and meningococcal disease. In Southern Health, just over 53 per cent of seven-year-olds are up to date on their measles vaccines — around 13 percentage points lower than the area with the next-lowest coverage.
So far this year, measles cases peaked in February, with 177 confirmed across the province. The situation eased by June, when there were only eight confirmed, but Dr. Mahmoud Khodaveisi with the Southern Health Region says they’re asking parents to remain vigilant so infections don’t spike again during the school year.
“For immunization, the uptick was higher compared to previous years but I have to mention the rate is much below the ideal goals,” Khodaveisi says. “With the fall and the weather starting to become more cold and people starting to stay inside, we’re hoping that this doesn’t happen again and we don’t have many cases of measles.”
Early measles symptoms include fever or blotchy red rashes, but complications can include lung infection or brain inflammation.
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Measles cases in Manitoba in 2026 have resulted in 52 hospitalizations and six ICU admissions. More than 82 per cent of cases were in people with no doses of the vaccine.
Across Canada, only two provinces, Ontario and New Brunswick, have vaccine requirements for children who want to attend school in person. Manitoba previously had a mandate, but that has since been repealed.
“There was a period of time where many of these contagious infections were lower and specific jurisdictions or provinces reduced the requirement or didn’t follow up on rules that were already on the book that required these to enter school,” McMaster University professor of medicine Dawn Bowdish says.
The professor says the provinces mandating school vaccines had widespread success in preventing the spread. Manitoba has confirmed 680 cases so far in 2026 compared with Ontario with 31.
“It’s thought this contributes to parents becoming aware of their child not being up to date,” Bowdish says. “Oftentimes people have no issue with being vaccinated but maybe they moved provinces or they’ve had some disruptions during their childhood vaccine schedule and they simply don’t know that they’re not up to date and most of these vaccines require two, three or four shots.”
In Manitoba, there’s no plan to add vaccine requirements to enter schools. The province says the game plan is education.
“Our stance still is to try to provide as much information as possible to dispel the extreme amount of disinformation,” chief provincial public health officer Brent Roussin says. “We’re here to build trust again, we’re here to build connections.”
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba chief public health officer, speaks at the Manitoba legislature in Winnipeg on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods.
JGW
Currently, provincial health teams are working in communities attempting to “build trust” with families regarding vaccines.
Bowdish says there are potential side effects for children who receive vaccines that need to be remembered, but stresses that most of the shots, including for measles and mumps, have been around in their current forms for decades.
“No matter how you do the math, the consequences of having one of these infections always outweighs some of the small but present risks of having a vaccine,” Bowdish says.
“You can reasonably expect that as that immune system kicks in, your kid is going to be tired, achy, cranky and may need to sleep. We shouldn’t underestimate this because this might mean that a parent might have to take time off work or find a babysitter. We can’t underestimate how disruptive those fevers can be, but those pass.”
An additional side effect, according to Health Canada, is a higher risk of fever-triggered seizures. The MMR vaccine, for example, when combined with the varicella shot, which reduces the risk of chickenpox and shingles, results in fever-triggered seizures for kids between 12 and 23 months of age in about one out of every 2,300 to 2,800 cases.
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