Halton Region Public Health immunization program update

Halton Region Public Health will be visiting schools beginning in October to offer school immunization clinics. Eligible grade 7 and 8 students who have a consent form signed by a parent or legal guardian will be offered Meningococcal Conjugate-ACYW-135 (Men-C-ACYW), Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 9-valent and Hepatitis B (HB) vaccines.

Report all your child's immunizations to the Halton Region Public Health. Health care providers do not report them for you.

To learn about childhood immunization, please review A Parent's Guide to Vaccination developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada (external PDF)

Where to get immunized

Online immunization records

You can access your child’s immunization records through our online portal ‘Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON)’ (external link) or by calling 311.

The Immunization Connect Ontario tool is a secure web based provincial program designed for the public. It enables the public to:

• look up an immunization record for their child(ren); and
• submit immunization records for their child(ren) under the age of 18 years to Halton Region Public Health.
• If a child is under 18 years of age and attends child care, elementary or secondary school in Ontario, parents should inform Halton Region Public Health every time their child gets a vaccine.
• The immunization records parent(s)/guardian(s) submit through ICON will be reviewed to assess requirements for attending school as outlined in Immunization of Schools Pupil Act, 1990 (ISPA) (external link) or Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA) (external link).

We may not have an immunization record in ICON if:

• you or your parent/guardian did not report the immunizations to Halton Region Public Health. Under the Immunization of School Pupils Act, parent(s)/legal guardian(s) are responsible for updating Public Health every time their child receives an immunization;
• you recently moved to Ontario;
• you received your immunization from a health care provider or pharmacist (health care providers do not report immunizations to Halton Region Public Health); or
• you were born before 1980.

Please view tips for locating old immunization records (external link). When physicians retire or relocate to another practice, you may be able to get help locating records by contacting the Advisory Services Department with the College of Physicians and Surgeons at 1-800-268-7096  , ext. 603.

Immunizations for infants, toddlers and preschoolers

Children in child care

According to Ontario’s Child Care and Early Years Act (2014) (external link), students who attend licensed child care centres must be immunized against certain diseases, unless they have an exemption. Your child care centre requires proof of immunization or exemption before your child can attend the centre. It’s the law and helps keep our children safe and healthy!

The Halton Region Health Department collects, assesses and maintains immunization records for all children in licensed child care centres. This allows us to identify students who are at risk of certain diseases. Your child’s family doctor does not report their immunizations. Parents must submit these records to the Health Department and to their child care centre.

Immunizations for school-aged children

The following immunizations are recommended and available free of charge:

Immunization of pre-teens and teens

The Halton Region Health Department administers the following publicly funded vaccines for Grade 7 students at school clinics:

• Meningococcal Conjugate-ACYW-135 (Men-C-ACYW), 1 dose*
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 9-valent, 2 doses given 6 months apart**
• Hepatitis B (HB), 2 doses given 6 months apart**

*Meningococcal Conjugate-ACYW-135 is a required immunization for school attendance under the Immunization of School Pupils Act. Learn more about obtaining a medical or non-medical exemption for this vaccine and other mandatory vaccines.

**Human Papillomavirus and Hepatitis B are recommended for students in this age group.

Visit Halton’s School-based Immunizations page for more information.

Immunizations required for attendance at school

All immunizations listed in the Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule are recommended. However, specific immunizations are legally required for students attending school in Halton Region as per the Immunization of School Pupil’s Act (ISPA). Halton Region Health Department enforces ISPA on behalf of the province.

Parents must provide proof that their children have the following immunizations to legally attend school:

• Diphtheria
• Rubella
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Tetanus
• Varicella (chicken pox) – for those born in 2010 or later
• Measles
• Mumps
• Polio
• Meningococcal disease - (Men C-C) for ages 1-11 AND (Men C-ACYW) for ages 12 and older

For more information call the Health Department by calling 311  .

Immunization exemption

A parent/guardian can temporarily or permanently exempt a child from receiving immunizations based on the following:

• medical reasons
• conscience or religious belief

An exemption allows an unimmunized or under-immunized child to attend school. However, in the event of an infectious disease outbreak, the Medical Officer of Health has a responsibility to ensure that the child does not attend school until the outbreak is over.

See more information on the vaccine exemption process.