Vaccinating Your Child for School in Canada

With school starting back up in the fall, now is a great time to begin thinking about vaccinating your child for school. Whether or not you will have your child vaccinated for school is a major decision, one that requires research and careful consideration. Continue reading this blog post to form your opinion about childhood vaccinations and if your child needs them.

Does a child have to be vaccinated for school?

Did you know that Canada does not force students to receive immunizations? It’s true. However, vaccines are highly recommended by schools and health professionals. Also, some provinces require vaccinations prior to school.

There may be consequences for not having your child immunized before school. For example, if an outbreak of illness occurs at your child’s school, there’s a chance your child will be asked to stay at home. The point of this is to protect the child from infectious diseases. Having un-immunized children stay at home can stop the spread of disease and illness.

Does your province require children to be vaccinated for school?

Do you know if your province requires children to be vaccinated for school? If not, visit http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/iyc-vve/schedule-calendrier-eng.php. There are only two easy steps to finding the immunization schedule for your province. Go to the above link, then select your province or territory. Last, enter your child’s grade and click “create schedule”.  Also, it is not a bad idea to contact your child’s school about mandatory vaccines and other medical requirements.

Is your child an infant? If so, you can obtain an immunization schedule for infants by using the infant/child immunization schedule tool (found at http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/iyc-vve/is-cv-eng.php).

Was your child immunized for school?

Did you choose to have your child vaccinated for school? Why or why not? Share your experiences with us by commenting on this blog post. The Disability Living blog is here to foster conversations that are beneficial to the entire disability community of Canada. Contribute to DL’s conversations by sharing your opinions with us. Thanks for your feedback!