COVID-19 VACCINES - For more information on the COVID-19 vaccines, please visit the dedicated webpage.
EXPANDED VACCINE ELIGIBILITY - Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, some individuals may have missed their opportunity to receive the recommended vaccines (grade-based, age-based, high risk) under the publicly funded program. TBDHU is encouraging these individuals, including children, to reach out to their health care provider to ensure they are up-to-date.
HEALTH UNIT IMMUNIZATION CLINICS - For more information about TBDHU’s immunization options, visit the Immunization Clinics page.
The TBDHU provides support to health care providers in a variety of ways:
Supplying vaccines, including the flu vaccine.
Ensuring vaccine providers follow Ontario’s vaccine storage and handling guidelines.
Providing support and information about immunizations, outbreaks, and other disease-related topics affecting public health.
Providing support and information in relation to adverse effects of immunization, including reporting.
Ontario's Immunization Schedules (updated June 2022) is intended primarily for health care providers who administer immunizations as reference tools. They provide information regarding:
The routine immunization schedule
Catch-up immunization schedules
High risk immunization programs and schedules
Eligibility criteria for all publicly funded vaccines
Minimum and recommended intervals between doses for vaccine series.
Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, some individuals may have missed their opportunity to receive the recommended vaccines, either age-based on grade-based, under the publicly funded program. The Ministry of Health’s Guidance for Routine and Catch-Up Immunization Services provides information on the vaccines, cohorts, and timing required to receive missed vaccine doses. The vaccines eligible for publicly funded missed doses include:
Hepatitis B
HPV-9
Men-C-ACYW135
Herpes Zoster
High-risk vaccines
Please note: Restarting the vaccine series is not required, regardless of the time delay.
c, d Age of the impacted cohorts falls within the Health Canada product monograph age indications for product use e Ontario publicly funds a single lifetime dose of Men-C-ACYW135 for individuals ≥56 years of age who meet high risk eligibility criteria listed in Table 3: High Risk Vaccine Programs of the Publicly Funded Schedules for Ontario (2022) Publicly Funded Immunization Schedules for Ontario June 2022. f, g, h Under the program extension high risk individuals born in 1964, 1965 and 1966 are eligible for 2 doses of Men-C-ACYW135, since they would have been 55 years of age in 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. Administration of two doses in these cohorts aligns with NACI recommendations based on expert opinion to as the product monographs limits age indication to 55 years of age.
Under Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA), all primary and secondary students must have proof of immunization against the following diseases to attend school (or a valid exemption):
Diphtheria
Tetanus (lockjaw)
Polio
Measles
Mumps
Rubella (German measles)
Meningococcal Disease (which can cause meningitis)
Pertussis (whooping cough), and
Varicella (chickenpox; required for children born in 2010 or later).
In Ontario, the UIIP offers influenza vaccine free of charge each year to all individuals six months of age and older who live, work or go to school in Ontario.
Ontario recently expanded the eligibility criteria for its publicly funded RSV vaccine program to include anyone who is: 60 years old or older AND a member of any of the following groups:
Living in long-term care homes, including Elder Care Lodges and retirement homes licensed to provide dementia care
A hospital alternate level of care (ALC) patient
A dialysis patient
A transplant recipient
Experiencing homelessness
Indigenous
To order publicly funded RSV vaccine, please see the “Vaccine Ordering” tab below.
Information for the public about the publicly funded RSV program can be accessed through TBDHU.com/rsv-vaccine.
A health care provider resource for Talking About Vaccine Safety with Vulnerable Populations was developed through the Peer-2-Peer Vaccine Safety Project. The resource gives special considerations for people who use drugs and people who are homeless or under-housed.
For Further Information
Call the Vaccine Preventable Disease program:(807) 625-5900
