Vaccines & Children

Vaccine exemptions

Your child may be exempted from vaccines mandated by ISPA or CCEYA for medical reasons or conscientious beliefs. Please refer to the applicable reason in the tabs below for full details.

If you choose not to vaccinate your child, you increase their risk of getting disease. Your child must be kept home from school or daycare if there is a disease outbreak that could put them at risk.

Health Services Appeal and Review Board Decision

Please be advised that on June 18, 2019 the Health Services Appeal and Review Board (HSARB) ruled that the Respondent does not have the ability or the discretion to alter the terms and content of the prescribed (ISPA/CCEYA Affidavit) form.

The content of the form, whether it is that portion which contains the information the legislature has specifically determined needs to be communicated or whether it relates to the wording of the Affidavit itself is a matter for the legislature. It is simply not open to the Respondent to alter a prescribed form or the Affidavit contained in it or to accept an altered form in fulfillment of the requirements of the Immunization of School Pupils Act, RSO 1990. 

Because of this decision, effective November 11, 2019 the City of Hamilton will no longer accept any affidavit’s with alterations.

You can access the full details of this decision by visiting the Health Services Appeal and Review Board.

By law in Ontario, Public Health needs:

• An up-to-date vaccination record, or
• A valid exemption form

This is required for each child attending a licensed child care centre, licensed home child care agency (Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014) or school (Immunization of School Pupils Act).

Check you vaccination records

You can check to see if your child has the vaccines they need to attend child care or school by:

• Reviewing their vaccination record (yellow card)
• Asking your health care provider
   
• By checking Online
   
• Or by calling Public Health at 905-540-5250

Getting your Child Vaccinated

In addition to the required vaccinations, Public Health strongly recommends:

• Annual Flu vaccine (for children of all ages)
• Rotavirus (for children attending child care)
• Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccine for Grade 7 Students

Following the Routine Schedule

When following the routine schedule, timing matters. The schedule gives some age ranges for your child to receive a vaccine (4 to 6 and 14 to 16 years). These vaccines are requires every 10 years from the 4 to 6 year vaccine. Example, if the 4 to 6 year vaccine was given at 5 years old then the 14 to 16 vaccine is required 10 years later at 15 years of age.

To prepare your child for clinic day, it is important that your child is well fed.  This reduces the chance of your child feeling faint or sick after the needle.

On the day of the clinic:

• Make sure your child eats breakfast.
• Pack your child a healthy lunch.
• Make sure your child wears a short sleeve shirt.
• Talk to your child about the vaccine. Explain what it is for and how it helps.

It is normal for your child to be nervous about getting a needle. Talk to your child about how to deal with anxiety and pain from the needle. 

You can use a numbing product on your child’s upper arm. These are available at your local pharmacy. Read and follow the directions carefully. Your child’s needle will be given in the upper arm, about two finger widths below the shoulder.

After the needle

Talk to your child about what their arm will feel like after the needle. Their arm might be red and sore at the spot where they get the needle. Tell them to move their arm throughout the day so that the vaccine does not stay in one spot and cause pain.