Hospitalizations for vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases surpass pre-pandemic levels
New data released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information reveals Canada’s rate of hospitalizations for vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases more than doubled in 2024–2025 compared with pre-pandemic levels, with COVID-19 driving a majority of these hospitalizations.
New data highlighted in Priority indicators to understand public health systems in Canada: Foundations for tomorrow reveals that surges in vaccine-preventable respiratory illnesses led to 142 hospitalizations for every 100,000 residents in 2024–2025 — more than double the rate in 2019–2020. This information aligns with data released earlier this year, which reported that pneumonia hospitalization rates surpassed pandemic levels across all age groups (up by 31% in 2024–2025 from the previous year).