UPDATED ORDER FORM (JULY) - See the Ordering and Reporting Vaccines - Including AEFIs page; scroll down to the Ordering and Picking Up Vaccine tab and click on the order form based on where your practice is located. There is one form for Thunder Bay providers and a form for each of the branch office locations.
UPDATED REPORTING FORM (JULY) - Please report all vaccines administered to children 0-18 years as well as all Grade 7 vaccines and all High Risk vaccines.Find the reporting form onthe Ordering and Reporting Vaccines - Including AEFIs page; scroll down to the Reporting Vaccine Doses Administered tab.
PEDIACEL® VACCINE PROGRAM TRANSITIONING TO PENTACEL® - See the tab below for more information on this product transition.
THUNDER BAY STUDENTS - NOTICES TO CATCH UP (JULY/AUGUST) - TBDHU continues to send out notices to students in Thunder Bay who: have no immunization records on file, were previously immunized with oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), OR are due or overdue for specific vaccines in JK/SK (overdue only), Grade 1 (both due and overdue) and Grade 6 (overdue only). Providers can refer school-aged children who received a notice about updating their record to TBDHU August clinics if they are unable to accommodate these clients in the short term: August 9, August 15, August 22 and August 27. Patients should call (807) 625-5908 to book an appointment.
The TBDHU provides support to health care providers in a variety of ways:
Supplying vaccines, including the flu vaccine.
Ensuring vaccine providers follow Ontario’s vaccine storage and handling guidelines.
Providing support and information about immunizations, outbreaks, and other disease-related topics affecting public health.
Providing support and information in relation to adverse effects of immunization, including reporting.
Ontario's Immunization Schedules (updated June 2022) is intended primarily for health care providers who administer immunizations as reference tools. They provide information regarding:
The routine immunization schedule
Catch-up immunization schedules
High risk immunization programs and schedules
Eligibility criteria for all publicly funded vaccines
Minimum and recommended intervals between doses for vaccine series.
Due to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, some individuals may have missed their opportunity to receive the recommended vaccines, either age-based on grade-based, under the publicly funded program. The Ministry of Health’s Guidance for Routine and Catch-Up Immunization Services provides information on the vaccines, cohorts, and timing required to receive missed vaccine doses. The vaccines eligible for publicly funded missed doses include:
School based - Hepatitis B, HPV-9 and Men-C-ACYW135 (see page 8)
Adult - Herpes Zoster (see page 8)
High-risk vaccines - HPV-9, Hepatitis B and Men-C-ACYW135 (see page 9)
Please note: Restarting the vaccine series is not required, regardless of the time delay.
Under Ontario’s Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA), all primary and secondary students must have proof of immunization against the following diseases to attend school (or a valid exemption):
Diphtheria
Tetanus (lockjaw)
Polio
Measles
Mumps
Rubella (German measles)
Meningococcal Disease (which can cause meningitis)
Pertussis (whooping cough), and
Varicella (chickenpox; required for children born in 2010 or later).
Ontario’s school-based immunization program offers immunizations in Grade 7 for protection against Hepatitis B, Meningococcal disease and HPV. See TBDHU School Immunization page.
Sanofi Vaccines Canada is discontinuing PEDIACEL® and transitioning to the PENTACEL®.
Providers can continue using PEDIACEL® until the vaccine’s expiry date. The products are interchangeable, even during the initial series.
ORDER vaccine once current stock of PEDIACEL® is depleted (e.g. vaccine users will not return PEDIACEL® or replace existing PEDIACEL® with PENTACEL® )
In Ontario, the UIIP offers influenza vaccine free of charge each year to all individuals six months of age and older who live, work or go to school in Ontario.
Ontario recently expanded the eligibility criteria for its publicly funded RSV vaccine program to include anyone who is: 60 years old or older AND a member of any of the following groups:
Living in long-term care homes, including Elder Care Lodges and retirement homes licensed to provide dementia care
A hospital alternate level of care (ALC) patient
A dialysis patient
A transplant recipient
Experiencing homelessness
Indigenous
To order publicly funded RSV vaccine, please see the “Vaccine Ordering” tab below.
Information for the public about the publicly funded RSV program can be accessed through TBDHU.com/rsv-vaccine.
A health care provider resource for Talking About Vaccine Safety with Vulnerable Populations was developed through the Peer-2-Peer Vaccine Safety Project. The resource gives special considerations for people who use drugs and people who are homeless or under-housed.
For Further Information
Call the Vaccine Preventable Disease program:(807) 625-5900
