This summer the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) is operating vaccination clinics to help children and youth aged four to 17 years to catch up, keep up and stay on track with their publicly funded, routine vaccines that were missed during the pandemic.
The health unit recommends getting immunized according to the publicly funded immunization schedule for Ontario. This includes vaccinations against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and meningococcal disease. Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act requires that students be vaccinated for those diseases or have a valid exemption.
“When children and youth’s immunizations are up to date, they have the best protection against certain vaccine preventable diseases,” says Dr. Colin Lee, Associate Medical Officer of Health at SMDHU. “There has been an increase of some of these diseases worldwide, including in Canada due to the interruption of immunization by the pandemic. Vaccines are a safe and effective way to prevent infections that have potential serious health outcomes.”
Parents and caregivers whose children have not received all recommended vaccines for their age or are unsure of which vaccines are needed, should speak to their child’s healthcare provider or the health unit as soon as possible. They can help figure out which vaccines children have already had, which ones they still need, and when and where to get them.
Families with school-age children who are eligible or overdue for their routine and publicly funded vaccines and who do not have a healthcare provider can book an immunization appointment for the clinic at 29 Sperling Dr in Barrie or at one of the health unit offices in Collingwood, Cookstown, Gravenhurst, Huntsville, Midland and Orillia.
If a child or youth has already received immunizations through their healthcare provider, parents and caregivers must update their immunization record on file with the health unit online.
For more information about routine and required vaccines given to students and the diseases they prevent, please visit smdhu.org. You can also speak with a public health professional by calling Health Connection at 705-721-7520 or 1-877-721-7520 Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
