Vaccines play a vital role in keeping infants and children healthy. They are the best and safest way to protect the health of your child from a wide range of serious, and potentially fatal diseases.
Ensuring your child’s vaccinations are up-to-date is important because a child’s immune system isn’t mature enough to fight off certain infections. Vaccines prepare the body to fight illness before you get sick by building the body’s natural immunity to a disease. This helps to keep your children from getting sick and spreading diseases.
Previously common vaccine-preventable diseases, such as polio and measles, are extremely rare in Canada; however, those diseases still exist and they re-appear in places where people are not immunized. Decisions not to immunize could put your child, your family, and your community at greater risk for disease. Canada has strict regulations to ensure that the vaccines you receive are safe and effective. Most vaccine side-effects are minor and last only for a few hours. Severe reactions to vaccines are very rare.
In Ontario, infants and children are offered free vaccines to protect against diseases that include:
- Polio
- Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR)
- Pertussis (Whooping cough)
- Tetanus
- Diphtheria
- Chickenpox (Varicella)
- Influenza
- Hepatitis B
- HPV (Human Papillomavirus)
- Haemophilus Influenza B
- Pneumococcal disease
- Meningococcal disease
Check out the resources below to learn what vaccines your child needs, and when your child needs them.
Reporting
As a parent or guardian, you are required to report your child’s immunizations to us if your child attends school, or a licensed daycare centre.1 2 This ensures we have accurate records of immunizations and we can protect everyone, including kids who aren’t immunized, during an outbreak.
You can report you or your child’s immunization records:
- directly through eHealth Ontario
- contact Lambton Public Health by phone, visit the main office, or email immunization@county-lambton.on.ca.
Children can be exempted for medical reasons, conscience or religious beliefs. Learn more about the exemption process.
If you have questions, or want to learn about the suspension process, please contact Lambton Public Health or view the Frequently Asked Questions: School Suspensions for Immunization Reporting.
