School Immunizations

Immunizations are the best way to protect children from serious diseases and ensure that they stay healthy.      

Under the Immunization School Pupils Act (ISPA), all students enrolled in schools in Ontario must be fully immunized against nine designated diseases, namely:

• diphtheria  
• tetanus  
• polio  
• measles  
• mumps  
• rubella  
• meningococcal disease  
• pertussis (whooping cough)  
• varicella (chickenpox) for those born in 2010 or later

Parents are responsible for providing Northeastern Public Health (NEPH) with proof of their children's completed immunizations, unless a valid medical or philosophical/religious exemption is submitted.      

Northeastern Public Health uses Panorama, which is a provincial electronic database used for vaccine record and inventory management.          

Every January, NEPH’s immunization team conducts a thorough review of immunization records for all enrolled students within NEPH region. Using Panorama a report is generated for students with incomplete or outdated immunization records and letters are sent out to parents requesting missing information or reminding parents to update mandatory immunization as required.        

Failure to provide this information to the health unit may lead to a student being suspended from school.   

Notification Letters:  

If you’ve received one of these letters from us, it means that your child may be missing vaccines. To update your child’s records, we kindly ask for your help with the following: 

Provide a copy of your child’s immunization record:

• Please send a copy of your child’s immunization record to your local health unit office. This will help us to review the document and see if your child needs any more vaccinations.  

Get any missing immunizations:

• If your child is missing any vaccinations, we recommend making an appointment with your health care provider or contacting NEPH. We can help you schedule the necessary immunizations.  

Report immunizations to NEPH:

• It’s important to report all immunizations to your local health unit office. You can do this in a few ways:
• Provide the information to the school.
• Mail the information to your local health unit office.
• Visit one of our NEPH offices in person.
• Report the information online through ICON 

Exemption Information

• If you want to know more about exemptions, we encourage you to visit our website page Exemptions for Immunizations.

School-Based Immunization Clinics  

Northeastern Public Health offers school-based immunization clinics for Grade 7 to 12 students.  

During our clinics, we use the CARD (Comfort, Ask, Relax, Distract) system to make your child more comfortable during their vaccination experience. The CARD system provides strategies that can be used to help cope before and during vaccination and needle procedures through a variety of resources, such as videos, handouts and activities.  

Follow this link to get the most up-to-date fact sheets on these school vaccines.

Grade 7 Program

Every fall, a nurse from Northeastern Public Health will go into schools to offer Grade 7 immunizations. As part of our school program, all Grade 7 students, are offered immunizations against Hepatitis B, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Meningococcal disease at no cost.

Hepatitis B and HPV are optional vaccines and not mandatory for school attendance; however, the vaccine that protects against meningococcal disease is mandatory for school attendance (as per ISPA).

During the month of September, grade 7 students will be provided with a package to bring home, from NEPH containing information about the Grade 7 School Immunization Program and the consent forms. Once parents/guardians have reviewed the information and signed the consent forms, the forms can be returned to your child’s school or local health unit office.

High School and Catch-Up Program

Every February, NEPH’s immunization team hosts clinics at the local high schools to catch up students who are due/overdue for their tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap)vaccine.  Tdap or Td is a vaccine that requires a booster every 10 years and your child would have received this vaccine between the ages of 4-6, thus requiring a booster dose in high school and every 10 years after.

In addition, if your child missed or did not complete their Grade 7 vaccine series, they remain eligible to receive these vaccines and are not required to restart their series.  The vaccines can be given during the high school clinic or at your primary care provider office.

Letters with consents are sent home to parents before the clinic. Following the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) students attending school in Ontario must have completed the required vaccinations or have a completed exemption submitted to your local health unit office.(add link to exemption page)

Contact your local health unit office if you have any questions about school vaccines.

About Consent

Informed Consent 

Informed consent is a process that ensures individuals are fully aware of the potential benefits and risks associated with any medical treatment, including vaccinations.  This process involves detailed discussions between the health care provider (such as the public health nurse) and the patient (in some cases, youth), about the treatment, the benefits and potential side effects.  

The goal is to empower individuals to make an informed decision about receiving vaccines.  

The Right to Consent  

Age of Consent: In Ontario, there is no legal age for consent to medical treatments.  This means, that youth can consent to receiving a vaccine if they can understand the information that is being provided and can make an informed decision.  

Independence: Capable youth are not required to have a parent or guardian consent on their behalf, and do not need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to receive vaccine.  

The Role of Healthcare Providers 

Healthcare providers have the professional and legal responsibility to assess the capacity of each individual and to obtain informed consent before administering any vaccine.  

Differences in Opinions

At times, a youth’s decision to receive a vaccine may be different than the wishes of their parent/guardian and the following process will be followed:  

Assessment of Capacity: The health care provider will evaluate whether the youth is capable of providing informed consent.  This involves determining if the youth can understand the information about the vaccine, including the benefits, potential side effects, and the implications of not receiving the vaccine. 

• Respecting the Youth’s Decision: If it is determined that the youth is capable of making an informed decision, the health care provider will respect and follow the decision made by the youth.