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Vaccine Information for Physicians

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If you are a physician in Halton Region, access information about ordering, storing, and administering provincially funded vaccines here.

Vaccine Distribution Update

Healthcare providers now have two options for receiving their vaccines:

  • They can choose to have the vaccines couriered to them, but they must have an account with a vaccine courier service, or
  • They can pick up the vaccines from the Halton Regional Centre (HRC) at 1151 Bronte Road in Oakville.

This fall, influenza vaccines will be sent to all premises participating in UIIP through an auto shipment process.

  • Auto shipments are anticipated to be delivered starting in early October.
  • All auto shipments will be delivered by vaccine courier at no cost to your facility.

Deliveries and pick-ups for routine and special order vaccines will be paused for 2 weeks to accommodate the auto-shipment schedule.

  • For Burlington and Oakville, there will be no vaccine delivery on October 3 or 4
  • For Milton and Halton Hills, there will be no vaccine delivery on October 10 or 11
  • During this time, orders for high-risk vaccines will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Ordering Vaccines

Use the vaccine order form to request routine, school-based, high-risk and COVID-19 vaccines. Four weeks of recorded temperatures up until order submission date must be submitted with all orders.

Manual entry of temperature logs on the online vaccine ordering page is no longer accepted. Halton Region Public Health will only accept scanned PDFs or photos (.jpg format) of temperature logs.

Frequently asked questions on ordering vaccines

Temperature logs are submitted electronically through the online order form. Public Health will only accept scanned PDFs or photos (jpg format) of temperature logs (PDF file). Please note that the submission must be for one full month leading up to the order date

Vaccine orders submitted on the Wednesday prior to a scheduled delivery date will be processed and delivered for the next scheduled bi-weekly delivery date.

Please note: If you have missed the delivery and will need the vaccines more urgently (e.g. high risk vaccines, post exposure prophylaxis), please call 311 or email accesshalton@halton.ca.

The Health Care Provider Vaccine Order Form (PDF file) must be used when ordering vaccines for clients who meet the High Risk eligibility criteria, but the vaccine cannot be ordered through the online ordering system. This also includes clients for whom vaccination is recommended as part of case and contact management.

All other vaccine orders must be placed through the online ordering system.

Vaccine Storage and Handling Guidelines (external PDF) require that healthcare providers storing publicly funded vaccines meet specific requirements. If the bi-weekly vaccine distribution schedule will cause issues related to appropriate storage and inventory practices, please call 311 or email accesshalton@halton.ca to discuss options.

Vaccine Distribution

September 2023 – January 2024 Vaccine Distribution Schedule

North Halton (Milton and Halton Hills) Vaccine Distribution Schedule - Delivery

Order by Milton
Tuesday delivery
between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Halton Hills
Wednesday delivery
between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
September 6, 2023 September 12, 2023 September 13, 2023
September 20, 2023 September 26, 2023 September 27, 2023
No Deliveries for Routine or Special Vaccine Orders on October 10 or 11.
During this time, orders for high-risk vaccines will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
October 18, 2023 October 24, 2023 October 25, 2023
November 1, 2023 November 7, 2023 November 8, 2023
November 15, 2023 November 21, 2023 November 22, 2023
November 29, 2023 December 5 2023 December 6, 2023
December 13, 2023 December 19, 2023 December 20, 2023
December 27, 2023 January 16, 2024 January 17, 2023

North Halton (Milton and Halton Hills) Vaccine Distribution Schedule - Pick-Up

Order by Tuesdays
between 9 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesdays
between 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
September 6, 2023 September 12, 2023 September 13, 2023
September 20, 2023 September 26, 2023 September 27, 2023
No Pick-ups for Routine or Special Vaccine Orders on October 10 or 11.
During this time, orders for high-risk vaccines will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
October 18, 2023 October 24, 2023 October 25, 2023
November 1, 2023 November 7, 2023 November 8, 2023
November 15, 2023 November 21, 2023 November 22, 2023
November 29, 2023 December 5, 2023 December 6, 2023
December 13, 2023 December 19, 2023 December 20, 2023
December 27, 2023 January 16, 2024 January 17, 2024

South Halton (Burlington and Oakville) Vaccine Distribution Schedule - Delivery

Order by Burlington
Tuesday delivery
between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Oakville
Wednesday delivery
between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
August 30, 2023 September 5, 2023 September 6, 2023
September 13, 2023 September 19, 2023 September 20, 2023
No Deliveries for Routine or Special Vaccine Orders on October 3 or 4.
During this time, orders for high-risk vaccines will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
October 11, 2023 October 17, 2023 October 18, 2023
October 25, 2023 October 31, 2023 November 1, 2023
November 8, 2023 November 14, 2023 November 15, 2023
November 22, 2023 November 28, 2023 November 29, 2023
December 6, 2023 December 12, 2023 December 13, 2023
December 20, 2023 January 9, 2024 January 10, 2024

South Halton (Burlington and Oakville) Vaccine Distribution Schedule - Pick-Up

Order by Tuesdays
between 9 – 11:30 a.m.
Wednesdays
between 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
August 30, 2023 September 5, 2023 September 6, 2023
September 13, 2023 September 19, 2023 September 20, 2023
No Pick-ups for Routine or Special Vaccine Orders on October 10 or 11.
During this time, orders for high-risk vaccines will be approved on a case-by-case basis.
October 11, 2023 October 17, 2023 October 18, 2023
October 25, 2023 October 31, 2023 November 1, 2023
November 8, 2023 November 14, 2023 November 15, 2023
November 22, 2023 November 28, 2023 November 29, 2023
December 6, 2023 December 12, 2023 December 13, 2023
December 20, 2023 January 9, 2024 January 10, 2024

The next vaccine distribution schedules will be released mid-December 2023.

Vaccine Delivery

Each municipality will receive bi-weekly vaccine deliveries. Routine, special, COVID-19 and high risk vaccines must be ordered online on the Wednesday prior to scheduled delivery dates. Refer to Vaccine Distribution for bi-weekly delivery schedule.

Vaccine orders submitted on the Wednesday prior to a scheduled delivery date will be processed and delivered for the next scheduled bi-weekly delivery date.

Please note: If vaccines are needed urgently (e.g. high risk vaccines, post exposure prophylaxis), please call 311 or email accesshalton@halton.ca.

Vaccines will be delivered on your scheduled delivery date listed on the Halton Region Public Health vaccine delivery schedule. Vaccines will be delivered between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. by Critical Path Courier. We are unable to provide a specific time for each office as the courier plans their route based on the number of deliveries in the area and what the most efficient route is.

Please ensure there is a staff member to receive the vaccines between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. If no staff member is present to receive the delivery, vaccines will be returned to Halton Regional Centre (HRC). They will be delivered again on your next scheduled bi-weekly delivery date.

Vaccine orders that are unable to be delivered on the scheduled delivery date will be returned to Halton Regional Centre and will be sent on your next scheduled delivery date. If you need to cancel your scheduled vaccine delivery, please call 311 or email accesshalton@halton.ca for options.

Vaccine Courier

Using a courier to receive vaccines is a convenient option for many healthcare professionals that saves staff time and expenses while protecting the integrity of the vaccines and the cold chain process. Critical Path (the vaccine courier service) uses temperature controlled vans, which helps to ensure that cold chain is maintained during transportation. Many clinics prefer couriered vaccines due to staff time and the associated costs of pick up.

The cost to use the vaccine courier is approximately $35 per delivery. All facilities in Halton are charged the same rate.

Public Health will continue to pay for the flu auto shipments, which are made at the beginning of the flu season, while clinics will pay for the delivery of vaccines they order.

Facilities that would like to continue receiving their vaccines through Critical Path will need to complete an Account Activation Form (PDF file) and send to ar@criticalpath.ca. You will be asked to provide credit card information for billing. If there is information on the Account Activation Form that you would prefer to provide over the phone rather than email (e.g. credit card information), please write “call for information” in the form field. Critical Path will contact you to collect this information over the phone.

If you have questions about the Account Activation form or the account set up process, please contact Critical Path at ar@criticalpath.ca or 905-212- 8333.

Only facilities that have an account with a courier service will be able to select courier as an option from the Online Vaccine Ordering form.

If you have an existing arrangement with a courier service, you can continue to use it or you can transition to Halton Region’s courier service by establishing an account with Critical Path (PDF file).

Halton Region Public Health is strongly encouraging offices to use Critical Path for vaccine deliveries because vaccines are transported in temperature controlled vehicles. This helps to ensure that vaccines are safe and that proper cold chain is maintained during transport.

Each holding point code must order vaccines for their own facility. To avoid cold chain issues and to preserve the integrity of the vaccines, each holding point code is able to order enough vaccine for their individual clinic to last approximately one month. Ordering more than a one-month supply of vaccine can contribute to vaccine wastage in the case of power disruptions.

If your office has an account with a vaccine courier, when you place your vaccine order you will have the option to choose whether you would like to pick up your vaccine order at 1151 Bronte Road or have it delivered to your office by the vaccine courier. If you would like your order delivered by vaccine courier, you should select this from the online ordering form and your order will be delivered on your scheduled delivery day. If you would prefer to pick-up your order, you will need to select this option on the online ordering system and select a pick-up time.

Vaccine Pick-up

Pick up your vaccine order at Halton Regional Centre, 1151 Bronte Road in Oakville (Google map). When you arrive, park on the north side of the building in either the designated spots for Health Department pick up or visitor parking in Lot I. Enter through the door labelled “STM-2B”, located across from parking lot I, beside the main loading dock. Please go to the Facilities Service Desk for vaccine pick-up. If you require an accessible entrance, please use the entrance on the east side of the building and reception will direct you to the Facilities Service Desk.

See the map attached (PDF file) for further directions on where to park and how to enter the building.

Vaccine pick-up times are:

  • Tuesdays from 9 a.m. -11:30 a.m.
  • Wednesdays from 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Each municipality will follow a bi-weekly vaccine distribution schedule. Vaccine pick-up dates will correspond with the Vaccine Distribution schedule for your municipality.

If you choose to pick up your vaccines from 1151 Bronte Road, please:

If the Public Health Pharmacy team determines that you are not prepared to safely transport your vaccine order, you will have to return at a later date once you are able to fulfill the vaccine cold chain requirements.

Vaccine orders that are not picked up on the scheduled pick-up date will be available for pick-up on the next bi-weekly pick-up date for your municipality. If you need to cancel your pick-up date, please call 311 or email accesshalton@halton.ca for options.

The option to pick up vaccine at Joseph Brant, Georgetown, or Milton District hospitals, is no longer available. Vaccines must be picked up from the Halton Regional Centre at 1151 Bronte Road in Oakville.

Hospital vaccine pick-up has not been available since November 2020 for various reasons. Since Public Health Units are responsible for storing and distributing a large quantity of vaccines, the Ministry of Health has additional vaccine storage and handling requirements that we are required to follow. These requirements are in place to minimize the risk of vaccine wastage. Since hospitals are not required to follow the additional vaccine storage and handling requirements that public health units are required to follow, vaccines available through public health, must be picked up either at Public Health or delivered through a courier service.

School Immunization Clinics

Halton Region Public Health provides school-based vaccines for Grade 7 and 8 students at public, private, Catholic and French school boards.

School immunization clinics are resuming in October 2023. Visit Halton’s’ school immunization page for more information.

School based vaccines include:

  • Meningococcal Conjugate-ACYW-135 (Nimenrix®/ Menactra®) (required for school attendance)
  • Hepatitis B (ENGERIX®-B/ Recombivax®HB) (recommended)
  • Human Papillomavirus (GARDASIL®9) (recommended)

Halton physicians will continue to be able to order school based vaccines for eligible students through the online Vaccine Order Form (Special Vaccine Order).

Please encourage your patients to report all vaccinations done by a primary healthcare provider to Halton Region Public Health using the online immunization reporting system (external link).

Community Immunization Clinics

Community immunization clinics will be offered on Friday, October 6 to help student’s in grades 9 through 12 catch-up on missed doses of routine vaccines. Additional community clinics are being planned for December 2023, and early 2024.

Visit Halton’s’ immunization page for more information.

Frequently asked questions on School Based Vaccines

Eligibility criteria has been extended for select age groups that may have missed an opportunity to receive school-based vaccines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn who is currently eligible for school-based vaccines.

At this time, Public Health is unable to release school-based vaccines to physicians in bulk. All school-based vaccines released from Public Health are required to be associated with an eligible student. This information needs to be reported back to the Ministry of Health. In addition, Public Health must complete an immunization record assessment on the Provincial Immunization Database (Panorama) for each student prior to release of vaccines.

Released school-based vaccines are assigned to be administered only to the student it was approved for. There are situations where a student is no longer eligible, has received the vaccine elsewhere or has refused the vaccine. This school-based vaccine will have to be re-allocated within your practice.

If you have a student in your practice, whom you believe is eligible to receive a re-allocated school-based vaccine; Public Health (311) must be contacted first. Public Health will ensure a complete record and eligibility assessment is done and prior to re-allocating the vaccine.

This step must be done for all possible re-allocations as all school-based vaccines are required to be associated with an eligible student—this information is reported back to the Ministry of Health.

Similarly, when placing a new special order for school-based vaccines, please review your inventory first to determine if there is a dose available to be re-allocated. Public Health (311) must be contacted prior to administering dose.

COVID-19 Vaccine Onboarding Program

Health care professionals are uniquely positioned to provide information, answer questions and immunize individuals against COVID-19. The COVID-19 Vaccine Onboarding Program allows for administration of the COVID-19 vaccine by all eligible facilities. Ensuring ongoing access to COVID-19 vaccines across various health care settings promotes individuals remaining up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines—both for primary series and booster doses.

The following steps must be completed before you can provide COVID-19 vaccines. Public Health is here to support you with this process:

To enroll in the COVID-19 vaccine program, eligible facilities must complete a Vaccine Agreement (PDF file) and submit to covidvaccine@halton.ca using the subject line: “COVID-19 Vaccine Onboarding Program.”

All staff who will be involved with COVID-19 vaccines at your facility must review Halton Region’s COVID-19 Vaccine Onboarding Training video.

Once all required clinic staff have completed the OntarioMD: COVax training and Halton Region’s COVID-19 Vaccine Onboarding training, your facility must complete a COVax Account Registration Form (to be emailed to your facility) and submit to covidvaccine@halton.ca.

The Health Department will contact your facility directly to provide your Vaccination Event and outline next steps.

Once your facility has received its Vaccination Event and staff have activated their COVax accounts and downloaded the Salesforce Authenticator application to their personal smartphone device, COVID-19 vaccine orders can be submitted online using the Vaccine Order Form. COVID-19 vaccines will be distributed with other publicly-funded vaccines according to the Vaccine Distribution Schedule.

A COVID-19 Vaccine Inventory Report (PDF file) must be completed for each day that vaccines are administered/wasted at your facility and sent to covidvaccine@halton.ca.

Any questions or concerns related to the COVID-19 vaccine onboarding program should be directed to covidvaccine@halton.ca.

Halton Region COVID-19 Vaccine Onboarding Resources

Influenza Vaccine

The Ministry of Health has launched the 2023/2024 Universal Influenza Immunization Program (UIIP) (external link). Ontario’s UIIP offers free influenza vaccine each year for individuals six months of age and older who live, work, or go to school in Ontario.

This year’s Influenza Vaccine Program will be rolled out with the 2023 Fall COVID-19 Vaccine Program. To increase uptake, co-administration of COVID-19 and influenza vaccines should be considered, wherever possible.

Product Availability

The publicly funded influenza vaccines available for the 2023/2024 UIIP include:

  • Quadrivalent Inactivated Vaccine (QIV)
    • FluLaval Tetra
      • 6 months to 64 years
      • ≥ 65 years
    • Fluzone® Quadrivalent
      • 6 months to 64 years
      • ≥ 65 years
  • High-Dose Quadrivalent Inactivated Vaccine (QIV-HD)
    • Fluzone® High-Dose Quadrivalent
      • ≥ 65 years
  • Adjuvanted Trivalent Inactivated Vaccine (TIV-adj)
    • Fluad®
      • ≥ 65 years

Note:

  • The publicly funded QIV products (FluLaval Tetra and Fluzone® Quadrivalent) will be distributed based on product availability
    • Requests for specific QIV products are not permitted.
    • The two publicly funded QIV products are considered equivalent.
  • Fluzone® High-Dose Quadrivalent distribution will be prioritized to hospitalized individuals and residents of long term care homes and retirement homes. Remaining doses will be made available for distribution and administration to other seniors in the community.
  • Fluzone® Quadrivalent and Fluzone® High-Dose Quadrivalent are different products. Fluzone® High-Dose Quadrivalent is a quadrivalent influenza vaccine authorized only for those 65 years of age and older.
    • Please use caution when administering Fluzone® products to ensure that the right vaccine is being administered to the right person.
  • FluMist® Quadrivalent is NOT one of the publicly funded influenza vaccines available for the 2023/2024 UIIP. However, it may be purchased privately at a pharmacy.
  • Primary care providers will not receive all doses received last season in their first order because the Ministry of Health only receives a portion of the total provincial supply in October.

Influenza Vaccine Eligibility

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that influenza vaccine should be offered annually to anyone 6 months of age and older who does not have a contraindication to the vaccine.

  • Children 6 months to less than 9 years of age, who have NOT been previously immunized with influenza vaccine in their life, should be given 2 doses of influenza vaccine at least 4 weeks apart.
  • Children 6 months to less than 9 years of age, who have been previously immunized with at least one dose of influenza vaccine in their life, should receive 1 dose of influenza vaccine.
  • Individuals 9 years of age and older should receive 1 dose of influenza vaccine.

To promote co-administration of influenza and Fall 2023 COVID-19 XBB vaccines, high-risk criteria between these programs have been aligned and initial doses should be prioritized as follows:

  • The following populations will be eligible for vaccination as soon as vaccine is available (Anticipated for end of September / early October):
  • October 30, 2023:
    • General population

Large-scale vaccination clinics should be planned for November to ensure that an adequate supply can be ordered, based on available provincial supply.

Resources

Vaccine Exemptions

Important information regarding non-medical exemptions

Halton Region Public Health is now accepting non-medical Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) exemptions. Please view Vaccine Exemptions for Children Attending School for more information. 

Halton Region Public Health has resumed enforcement of the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA), beginning with  high school cohorts in the 2023-2024 school year. To learn more about vaccines required to attend school, and about immunization in general (including translated resources) visit:

A parent or guardian may decide against vaccinating their child for medical or personal reasons. To complete a medical exemption, choose one of the forms below:


 

Updated Eligibility for Routine Vaccines

As of September 2022, all students in grades 7 to end of grade 12 will be eligible for the publicly funded Hepatitis B vaccine.

*Individuals aged 16 years to less than 19 years require a 3-dose Hep B 0.5 mL (pediatric) immunization schedule as per the Canadian Immunization Guide (external link).

Individuals who have not completed the HB series prior to age 16 must follow Table 7: Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule (external PDF) recommended intervals for remaining doses using the HB pediatric (0.5 mL) formulation.

For those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, refer to the Guidance for Routine & Catch-up Immunization Services, Ministry of Health (external PDF) for information on extended eligibility.

HPV-9 vaccine eligibility starts in grade 7 and extends to the end of grade 12 for all students, regardless of gender, as per the updated Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule.

For those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, refer to the Guidance for Routine & Catch-up Immunization Services, Ministry of Health (external PDF) for information on extended eligibility.

*Individuals aged 15 years and older require a 3-dose HPV-9 immunization schedule as per the Canadian Immunization Guide (external link).

Currently, 65-70 year olds are able to receive publicly funded Shingrix®. Seniors born in 1949, 1950, 1951, and 1952 now remain eligible to complete the 2-dose series by December 31, 2023, as per the Guidance for Routine & Catch-up Immunization Services, Ministry of Health (external PDF).

Updated Eligibility for High-Risk Vaccines

Currently, males 9 to 26 years of age who meet the high-risk criteria (Table 3: Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule (external PDF)) are eligible for 2-3 doses of Gardasil 9®.

Males born in 1993, 1994, 1995, or 1996 now remain eligible to complete the 3-dose series by December 31, 2023, as per the Guidance for Routine & Catch-up Immunization Services, Ministry of Health (external PDF). Age of the impacted cohorts falls within the Health Canada product monograph age indications for product use.

Currently 2 months to 17 year olds who meet the high-risk criteria (Table 3: Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule (external PDF)) are eligible for 2-4 doses of Bexsero®.

Individuals born in 2002, 2003, 2004, or 2005 now remain eligible to complete the 2-dose series by December 31, 2023, as per the Guidance for Routine & Catch-up Immunization Services, Ministry of Health (external PDF). Age of the impacted cohorts falls within the Health Canada product monograph age indications for product use.

Currently, 9 months to 55 year olds who meet the high-risk criteria (Table 3: Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule (external PDF)) are eligible for 2-4 doses.

Individuals born in 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1967 now remain eligible to complete the 2-4 dose series by December 31, 2023, as per the Guidance for Routine & Catch-up Immunization Services, Ministry of Health (external PDF).

The province publicly funds a single lifetime dose of Men-C-ACYW135 for individual’s ≥56 years of age who meet high-risk eligibility criteria listed in Table 3: Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule (external PDF). These individuals may not be included in the age indication listed on the product monograph for the particular publicly funded vaccine. Therefore, administration of these vaccines is off-label and clinical judgment is advised.

Reporting an Adverse Event Following Immunization

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