Around 18K students in Waterloo Region have incomplete vaccination records
Posted Jan 3, 2025 07:56:52 AM.
Last Updated Jan 3, 2025 02:20:13 PM.
It happens every year around this time: Public Health agencies across the province have been or will be issuing notices to families with school-aged children who have incomplete vaccination records.
According to the Immunization of School Pupils Act, all students in Ontario must be vaccinated against:
- Diphtheria
- Tetanus
- Polio
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Meningococcal disease
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Students born in 2010 or later need to have varicella (chicken pox)
Students who cannot be vaccinated need to have a valid medical or non-medical exemption on file with public health. Waterloo Region Public Health began issuing notices to elementary-aged students in December. Around 13,100 notices were handed out.
Later this month, around 5,500 secondary-aged students will receive a note.
Should those who received notification not update their records in time, suspension notices will be issued for elementary students in February with a suspension date of April 2. Secondary students will be notified of a pending suspension in late March with a suspension date of May 8.
The same process is underway in with Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health. The agency said approximately 5,060 notices for elementary aged students will be mailed this month with a suspension date of March 19. And, 2,959 notices were mailed in November to secondary aged students with a suspension date of February 12.
Public Health wants to make it clear that just because a student received a notification it doesn’t mean they are not immunized. It simply means their records are out of date.
Records can be updated through the Waterloo Region Public Health website or through a primary care provider.
More information is available on the Region of Waterloo Public Health website or by calling 519-575-4400, (TTY) call 519-575-4608. Interpreters are available in over 150 languages.
