TORONTO ⚕️💉 Toronto Public Health Expands Access to Required Children's Vaccines Through its Immunization Clinics

Tuesday, 07 February 2023 12:00.PM

Toronto Public Health (TPH) is expanding access to the nine children's vaccines required under Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA). Starting today, parents and guardians of children from four to 17 years of age (junior kindergarten to grade 12) can book immunizations for diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal disease, pertussis (whooping cough) and varicella (chickenpox) at all six TPH immunization clinics.

Students in grades 7 to 12 can also continue to access vaccines for human papillomavirus, meningococcal and hepatitis B at these TPH immunization clinics.

TPH is helping Toronto students catch-up on lifesaving vaccines that they may have missed during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no fee for children to receive these vaccines and an OHIP card is not required. Appointments are preferred, though walk-ins will be accommodated based on capacity. Appointments can be made online through the TPH appointment booking system at http://www.TPHBookings.ca.

Ontario's ISPA requires parents to submit records of their child’s routine childhood vaccines or a valid exemption. TPH assesses vaccination records to ensure students are compliant. Since the beginning of the school year, TPH has mailed more than 100,000 letters requesting that families get children vaccinated, and update their children's vaccination record using ICON (Immunization Connect Ontario), a secure online system for submitting student immunization information to TPH. ICON is available at https://www.toronto.ca/co.../.

TPH continues to focus on informing families about potentially missing doses so that they can catch up and report on these vaccines. While TPH is not focused on issuing suspension orders for noncompliance with the ISPA at this time, this could change, so it is important for students to get vaccinated and report their immunizations to TPH as soon as possible.

Parents and guardians are reminded to:
• Check their child’s immunization records to ensure that they have received these vaccinations.
• Go to a health care provider or a TPH clinic to have their child vaccinated if their child did not get one or more of these vaccines.
• Report their child’s required immunizations to TPH online on the City of Toronto’s Report Student Immunization webpage: https://www.toronto.ca/co.../.

Families may also call TPH for more information at 416-338-7600.

Routine childhood vaccines are usually received through a family’s primary care provider, though they can also be received at a TPH clinic at this time to catch-up on these vaccines. Families without a regular medical provider can seek assistance from Health Care Connect Ontario: https://www.health.gov.on.../.

SOURCE: City of Toronto

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