The report, which will be considered by the Toronto Health Council today, looks more broadly at the various effects the pandemic had on children, including their mental health.
He says that during the pandemic, Toronto Public Health was forced to suspend some of its routine school-based vaccination programs, leaving some 73,000 seventh- to 12th-graders missing at least one dose of hepatitis B virus vaccine. human papilloma and meningococcal.
De Villa also says the pandemic has resulted in the suspension of Toronto’s public health dental program in schools, with virtual clinics and community clinics being used to partially fill the gap.  He said that in 2018-2019 school clinics helped identify 29,000 students who had emergency or non-caries that required dental care, but during the two-year pandemic the number of students who had access to Toronto public dental health clinics was just over 3,600, resulting in a “significant service gap”.


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“A gradual resumption of school screening is planned, giving priority to schools that have historically had the highest rates of caries (ie caries).”  de Villa said in the report.  “In the meantime, TPH will offer a pilot dental check-up for seventh- and eighth-grade children and adolescents in combination with vaccines for hepatitis B, human papillomavirus and meningococcus currently available at city immunization clinics.” .
In addition to suspending many school-based vaccines, de Villa said the pandemic has also left Toronto Public Health with limited resources to conduct “routine vaccination evaluations between kindergarten participants and students for three consecutive school years.” .
He said there was an “increased risk” of virus outbreaks in schools and childcare facilities.
He went on to say that Toronto Public Health would work with school committees to provide routine vaccines alongside COVID-19 vaccines in high schools.
But it is also asking the board to approve a proposal that would lead to a formal request to the province for help in dealing with the delays.
“As Toronto enters a new phase of life and management of COVID-19, TPH is shifting its focus to ensure that the indirect effects of the pandemic on this population are thoroughly investigated and addressed through interventions developed in collaboration with educator partners. sector”.  notes her report.
The announcement by de Villa on Monday comes amid a sixth wave of the pandemic that has resulted in a significant increase in COVID-19 transmission.
De Villa told board members that “we are still very much in the pandemic” and acknowledged that we are in “a different phase” in which governments “are increasingly trying to create a place where we both manage the COVID response and at the same time increasing access to other aspects of life and other activities “.
He said that as part of this change, Toronto Public Health is reviewing the way it publishes COVID-19 data and will soon reduce its reports to provide case and active case updates only twice a week (Tuesday and Friday). ).  Information on deaths and vaccinations will be distributed once a week (Tuesday and Friday, respectively)
“We are now at a point where the most important thing is actually reporting trends rather than focusing on daily changes.  “These daily fluctuations are much less significant than they were, for example, in early 2020,” he said.