December 13th, 2021

Dear Southwood Families,

Since restarting the school vaccination program on November 1, 2021, Public Health has provided over 3200 vaccinations to over 1280 students. These vaccines are normally provided in each school but, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, are now being offered at Public Health offices in Waterloo and Cambridge.

If your child is in Grade 7, 8 or 9 during the 2021/2022 school year, they are eligible to receive their school program vaccines or complete the series if they have already started them. Appointments are available at 99 Regina Street South, Waterloo and 99 Beechwood Road, Cambridge.

If you have previously declined these immunizations or have a legal exemption on file at Public Health, please disregard this letter.

Typically, each school year, Grade 7 students have an opportunity to receive the following three vaccines at school clinics. Please note that the meningococcal ACYW-135 vaccine is required for school attendance under the Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA). Although the Immunization of School Pupils Act has not been enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic, students’ immunization records will be reviewed in the future for vaccines required by the Act.

  • Hepatitis B (2 dose series)

  • Human Papillomavirus (HPV) (Gardasil®-9) (2 dose series)

  • Meningococcal ACYW-135 (Menactra®) (1 dose)

Please note that Hepatitis B and HPV vaccines require 2 doses to fully protect your child against these diseases. The Meningitis vaccine Menactra® is provided as a one-time dose and a second dose is not required to complete vaccination. Although some children may have already received a meningococcal vaccine prior to age 12, the Grade 7 immunization with Menactra® is still recommended to provide protection against strains not included in the earlier vaccine.

Next Steps:

If you wish to have your student complete these vaccinations, please do the following:

  1. Ensure your child’s vaccination records are up to date:

    • Before booking an appointment, ensure that all vaccinations received from your health care provider or other vaccination clinics have been reported to Public Health

      • Parents/students can access immunization records and submit immunization information via ICON (https://bit.ly/3v9rwPT) or by calling 519-575-4400  ext. 5001 (Monday to Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm)

      • Your student’s Health Card Number is needed to view their immunization record

  2. Book your child’s vaccination appointment:

Vaccine Exemptions (For Meningococcal Vaccine Only):

  • You may decide for medical, religious or philosophical reasons not to immunize your child. In this case, your will need to provide a written vaccine exemption for the Meningococcal vaccine, one of the vaccines required for attendance at school

  • For medical exemptions, a legal Statement of Medical Exemption must be forwarded to Public Health. Please call 519-575-4400  ext. 5001 if you wish to submit a Statement of Medical Exemption

  • Public Health is not currently processing non-medical vaccine exemptions (statements of conscience). Additional information will be communicated to parents once the non-medical exemption process has been restarted

**Note: Public Health does not issue COVID-19 vaccine exemptions. Please contact your family physician, pharmacist, allergist or nurse practitioner if you require written documentation.

If you have questions about the School Vaccine Program catch-up process, please call 519-575-4400 ext. 5001.

Sincerely,

Kristy Wright, RN BScN
Manager, Vaccine Preventable Disease Program
Region of Waterloo Public Health
99 Regina Street South, Waterloo, N2J 4V3
519-575-4400

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