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15 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M ay 27,2021 theifp.ca Join the Town of Halton Hills for the EmployHH: Premier Gateway Phase 2B Secondary Plan Virtual Open House June 28, 2021 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Register for the Virtual Open House by visiting the EmployHH: Premier Gateway Phase 2B Secondary Plan page on letstalkhaltonhills.ca The Town is developing a comprehensive Secondary Plan with appropriate land use designations and policies for the Premier Gateway Phase 2B Employment Area. Work has been ongoing to develop appropriate land use alternatives for the area. A presentation on the Alternative Land Use Options will be followed by a Question and Answer period. Community input gathered at the event will be used to prepare the Preferred Land Use Options. Members of the public can provide questions in advance via e-mail or phone to Town staff, or during the Question and Answer period at the Open House. Contact Town Staff directly by calling 905-873-2600 Ext. 2900 with any issues accessing the consultation material and arrangements will be made to provide hard copies of the public engagement material and options for submitting comments and questions. While we are currently only open for urgent eye care, we are getting prepared for a full re-opening of our offices as soon as health officials will allow.We wish to assure all our current and new patients that strong safety measures will be in place when we do open. Hope to see you soon and stay safe! We are open but due to the current virus situation we are seeing patients by appointment only. If you are planning a visit (for routine eye examinations, eyewear purchase and repair, contact lens pick up etc), please contact us in advance and we will arrange an appointment time for you. This will help to ensure we keep everyone safe! Infectious diseases, which before the ad- vent of immunization were the leading cause of death worldwide, accounted for less than 5 per cent of all deaths in Canada in 2019. Nonetheless, vaccine hesitancy and the anti-vaccine movement still influence how many Canadians feel about immuniza- tion. While there are a variety of cultural, po- litical and societal factors that contribute to vaccine hesitancy, misinformation sur- rounding vaccines doesn't help. Ian Culbert, executive director of the Canadian Public Health Association, debunks some of the prevailing myths surrounding vaccines. MYTH: VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER Culbert said this myth, like many sur- rounding vaccines, relates to children, since many vaccines are intended for children. "The number one myth that will not go away is that the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine causes autism, and this is absolute- ly false. There is no scientific evidence to support this claim," he said. Another myth linking vaccines to autism states that giving too many vaccines to children can trigger the disorder. "There's no evidence to link any other vaccines to autism," he said. "And while the number of kids being diagnosed on the spec- trum is increasing, this is more because the diagnostic methods now diagnose children with milder symptoms, and there's much greater awareness." MYTH: NEW VACCINES ARE APPROVED WITHOUT RIGOROUS TESTING Culbert said the fear that vaccines aren't safe, that they're not adequately tested for safety and are forced through the approval process, is especially relevant now, as the first COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada are administered throughout Onta- rio. Nonetheless, it isn't based in fact. "Canadians can have a high level of confi- dence in any vaccine that is approved by Health Canada because it is a very rigorous approval process that these products go through," he said. "In fact, it is often a com- plaint of the industry that our system is too rigorous, that it takes too long for vaccines to be approved." MYTH: THE DISEASES WE VACCINATE AGAINST AREN'T THAT SERIOUS Another misconception Culbert hears around vaccines is that most of the diseases Canadians are vaccinated against -- like measles -- aren't very serious or life-threat- ening. He said that although medical ad- vances have made the treatments for these illnesses more successful, that doesn't mean the illnesses are any less serious. "The fact is that measles outbreaks still happen, and complications do occur in 10 per cent of cases. People do still actually die from measles. Why would you take the risk?" he said. "Pertussis -- or whooping cough -- still kills between one and four ba- bies in Canada every year." Culbert said ap- proximately one in 400 babies who survive pertussis -- a serious childhood illness with a vaccine -- suffer from permanent brain damage. And tetanus, he said, kills at least 10 per cent of people who contract it. MYTH: IF MOST OTHER PEOPLE GET VACCINATED, MY FAMILY DOESN'T NEED TO Some Canadians reject vaccines on the grounds that the herd immunity achieved by everyone else's immunization makes it unnecessary for their family to be vaccinat- ed. "The problem with this is it only works if enough people are being vaccinated. If too many people take this attitude, then we won't achieve community immunity, which is that state at which an infection won't spread," Culbert said. He added that opting not to vaccinate also puts people with com- promised immune systems, especially chil- dren, at risk. MYTH: IT'S BETTER TO GAIN IMMUNITY NATURALLY FROM AN INFECTION THAN THROUGH VACCINATION Culbert said the idea that people should intentionally infect themselves or their chil- dren with an infectious disease -- for exam- ple, through a chickenpox party -- to gain immunity is flawed and dangerous. "With some infections, especially with COVID-19, we know it's not a lasting immu- nity, so you could easily become reinfected. That does not seem to be the case with the COVID-19 vaccine," he said. "Also, why would you put your child through that if you don't have to?" NEWS FACT OR FICTION: 5 COMMON VACCINE MYTHS BUSTED MEGAN DELAIRE mdelaire@toronto.com Infectious diseases like measles are avoidable, thanks to vaccines. Shutterstock photo