Toronto Public Health (TPH) has launched new community vaccination clinics in a bid to ensure that school-aged children are current with their routine immunizations. These clinics have been in operation since January 19 and represent a concerted effort to uphold wide immunization coverage and effectively curb the spread of diseases, providing vaccines for a spectrum of illnesses which include measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, meningococcal, pertussis, varicella, hepatitis B, and human papillomavirus.
The clinics are located at three strategic locations and are open for services on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 12:30 and 6:30 p.m. throughout the academic year. The TPH has plans to extend this availability to weekends and Professional Activity days, thereby increasing accessibility and convenience for parents and guardians.
In an effort to ensure strict adherence to the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA), the TPH has recommenced issuing non-compliance suspension orders for the 2023-24 academic year. Parents and guardians are given notice of impending vaccination requirements and are offered a window of 15 school days to comply or furnish a valid exemption before suspension orders become effective. They are motivated to use TPH’s community clinics or other healthcare providers for immunizations. Once the vaccinations are administered, the records will be entered into the Immunization Connect Ontario (ICON) system, a secure online platform that tracks and reports a student’s immunizations to TPH.
From January 25, the clinics will offer Novavax and pediatric COVID-19 vaccines for children under age five, with appointments accepted on TPH’s booking website from January 23. This is a major addition to the offerings of the clinics and echoes the commitment of global healthcare community to controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
This initiative is a major step towards maintaining high immunization coverage, effectively preventing and controlling diseases, and contributing to the health and safety of the young population of Toronto.
