Thousands of Okanagan teens get meningococcal vaccine

In just five days, thousands of Okanagan teens have been immunized for meningococcal disease.

Interior Health began its widespread vaccination campaign last Thursday and said as of Monday, more than 3,000 people in the Okanagan have been vaccinated.

The push to immunize students in grades 9 to 12 and 15 to 19-year-olds not in high school, throughout the Okanagan valley, came after the local health authority declared an outbreak.

The health authority is targeting older teens because that group is considered to be at highest risk.

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Interior Health said that as of Monday, 29.8 per cent of 15 to 19-year-olds in the Okanagan had received the vaccine.

When it declared the outbreak last Thursday, Interior Health said it had recorded 11 cases of meningococcal disease in the region this year, more than double the number of cases it sees in a typical year.

One teen who tested positive for the disease bacteria earlier this year died. However, the health authority said the link between the bacteria and cause of death is unclear.

In 2016, the province began routinely immunizing grade 9 students but Interior Health has decided to expand on that vaccination program in the Okanagan in response to the outbreak.

Public and school vaccination continues to take place throughout the Okanagan this week.