Community Immunity And Disease Prevention
The more people who are vaccinated in the community, the lower the risk of infection for those who:
- aren’t vaccinated
- developed only partial immunity from the vaccine
This means that when your child is vaccinated, you protect them as well as those around them.
Community immunity helps protect those at high risk of developing disease and severe complications or death, such as:
- adults 65 years of age and older
- infants and children too young to be fully vaccinated
- people with health conditions that affect their immune system, such as those undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer
What Is The Latest
The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation , which advises the Government, has recommended that a non-urgent offer of vaccines should be made to all children aged between five and 11.
The advice was given to ministers more than a week ago, with Wales and Scotland first to act, ahead of an announcement by the JCVI on Wednesday, supporting rollout across the UK.
If Your Child Can’t Be Vaccinated
Some children may not be able to get some vaccines, including those with:
- specific medical conditions
- severe allergic reactions to vaccine ingredients
Examples include children who need to take high-dose steroids or who have a weakened immune system from cancer treatment . These children may need to avoid vaccines that contain a weakened live virus, such as measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox.
These children are at risk of getting the disease that the vaccine would have prevented.
Talk to your health care provider or local public health authority if you have any concerns about your child’s health status and vaccines.
If your child can’t be vaccinated, you can help protect them by encouraging others to get vaccinated. This will help prevent the spread of disease to your child.
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Immunisation Schedule For Victorian Babies And Young Children
The Victorian immunisation schedule outlines the vaccines that are routinely provided free of charge to all Victorian children under the National Immunisation Program and the Victorian funded program. It also outlines the age at which each vaccination should be given. New vaccines against serious infections continue to be developed and the schedule might be updated in the future.
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Influenza vaccine |
Fever, feeling unwell, muscle aches, injection site pain, redness and swelling |
Additional vaccines are given to children with certain medical risk conditions that put them at increased risk of complications from vaccine preventable diseases, such as:
- babies that are born prematurely or low birth weight
- children with chronic medical risk conditions. Talk with your doctor to see if your child should get extra vaccines.
Keeping Your Childs Vaccination Record Up To Date
Ask the doctor or nurse to give you a written record and take this record with you whenever you take your child to a doctor, a clinic or hospital. An up-to-date vaccine record is especially important if you move to a new province or territory, as vaccine schedules are not the same everywhere. Your child may miss vaccine doses if your new doctor or clinic does not know exactly which vaccines they have already received.
You can also use the CANImmunize smartphone app. CANImmunize is a digital tool for Canadians that securely stores their vaccination records and helps them get vaccinated on time. The app also provides access to information and resources about vaccination from trusted Canadian health sources, so people can make informed vaccination decisions for themselves and their families.
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Are There Any Practical Things I Can Do To Make The Wait Easier On Me Mentally
Remember that no one can pour from an empty cup. Take time for yourself, and try these practices suggested by CHOC pediatric psychologists to help prevent burnout:
Everything parents need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine for children and teens from the pediatric experts at CHOC
What Diseases Do Vaccines Prevent
Vaccines protect your child against serious illnesses like polio, which can cause paralysis measles, which can cause brain swelling and blindness and tetanus, which can cause painful muscle contractions and difficulty eating and breathing, especially in newborns. For a list of the most common vaccines and the diseases they prevent, see this list of the most common vaccines and the diseases they prevent.
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Should My Child Receive Any Other Vaccines
The CPS recommends that all children over 6 months old get aflu shot each year. The vaccine is especially important for children less than 5 years of age, and for older children with chronic conditions who are at high risk of complications from the flu. The flu shot is also safe and highly recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Since infants less than 6 months of age cannot get the flu shot , antibodies against the flu are transferred to the baby from the mother before birth and through breast milk.
The CPS also urges all children and youth age 5 years and older to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
If travelling, speak to your doctor about vaccines that can protect your child.
How Vaccines Are Given
Most vaccines are given by needle in the upper arm or thigh. Some vaccines, like the rotavirus vaccine, are given by mouth. There’s also a flu vaccine for children that’s sprayed into the nose.
Some vaccines are given separately. Others, like the MMR vaccine, protect against 3 diseases in one vaccine.
Your child’s immune system can learn from more than 1 vaccine at a time. For instance, babies can respond to 10,000 different antigens at any one time.
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What To Bring To Your Appointment
For your appointment, you should bring:
- your booking confirmation code or email
- your Ontario health card, if you have one
- a letter from your school, medical provider or faith leader, if you dont have an Ontario health card
- your immunization record, if available, to keep track of your COVID-19covid 19 vaccine
- an allergy form, if you have a suspected allergy to the Pfizer vaccine or any of its ingredients or have had a previous allergic reaction to a vaccine
- a mask
- a support person, if needed
How The Vaccines Are Studied And Tested For Children And Youth
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were tested in youth through clinical trials. The Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine was also tested in children. These clinical trials compared the immune response, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine to a placebo. In these studies:
- no safety issues were detected
- the vaccine provided very good protection against COVID-19 in the couple months after vaccination
Learn more about:
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Provincial And Territorial Routine And Catch
This table summarizes the current routine vaccination schedule for infants and children in all provinces and territories across Canada. Changes to this schedule are updated regularly in collaboration with the Canadian Nursing Coalition for Immunization and the Canadian Immunization Committee Schedules for each province or territory are available. Additional information is available on Canada.ca/vaccines.
What We Know About The Vaccines For Children
Health Canada approval for younger children was based on a clinical trial involving over 3,000 young children receiving the Pfizer vaccine. This study found that vaccine efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 was 90.7%. This is similar to the level of protection that the vaccines provide for older children and adults. The study also showed that if immunized children did get infected, they experienced milder illness. While some children in the study experienced mild vaccine reactions like a sore arm or fever, there were no safety issues found.
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Vaccine Timeline For Kids Under 5 And What Parents Can Do In The Meantime
As children ages 5 and older have begun getting vaccinated against COVID-19, parents of young kids may be feeling increasingly impatient about when their little ones might get their turn for vaccination.
Here, Dr. Jonathan Auth, a CHOC pediatrician, explains the current timeline for vaccine availability for children younger than 5 and offers some reassurance to their worried parents.
Meningococcal Serogroup B Vaccination
- Adolescents not at increased risk age 1623 years based on shared clinical decision-making:
- Bexsero: 2-dose series at least 1 month apart
- Trumenba: 2-dose series at least 6 months apart if dose 2 is administered earlier than 6 months, administer a 3rd dose at least 4 months after dose 2.
Special situations
Anatomic or functional asplenia , persistent complement component deficiency, complement inhibitor use:
- Bexsero: 2-dose series at least 1 month apart
- Trumenba: 3-dose series at 0, 12, 6 months
Bexsero and Trumenba are not interchangeable the same product should be used for all doses in a series. For MenB booster dose recommendations for groups listed under Special situations and in an outbreak setting and additional meningococcal vaccination information, see .
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What To Do If You Move
If you move to another province or territory, your child’s vaccination schedule may change. Once you have moved, contact your new health care provider or local public health office. They will tell you which vaccines may be needed in that province or territory.
Remember to take your child’s vaccination record to the appointment with you.
Tetanus Diphtheria And Pertussis Vaccination
Routine vaccination
- Adolescents age 1112 years: 1 dose Tdap
- Pregnancy: 1 dose Tdap during each pregnancy, preferably during the early part of gestational weeks 2736
- Tdap may be administered regardless of the interval since the last tetanus- and diphtheria-toxoid-containing vaccine.
Catch-up vaccination
- Adolescents age 1318 years who have not received Tdap: 1 dose Tdap, then Td or Tdap booster every 10 years
- Persons age 718 years not fully vaccinated* with DTaP: 1 dose Tdap as part of the catch-up series if additional doses are needed, use Td or Tdap.
- Tdap administered at age 710 years
- Children age 79 years who receive Tdap should receive the routine Tdap dose at age 1112 years.
- Children age 10 years who receive Tdap do not need the routine Tdap dose at age 1112 years.
Special situations
*Fully vaccinated = 5 valid doses of DTaP OR 4 valid doses of DTaP if dose 4 was administered at age 4 years or older.
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Keep Following Public Health Measures
Even once you are fully vaccinated, you should continue to follow public health measures to stop the spread of COVID-19covid 19 and stay safe. This includes:
- Stay at home if you have symptoms, even if they are mild
- Wear a mask where it is required
- Wash your hands thoroughly and regularly
- Cover your cough
- Follow guidance on how to celebrate holidays and festive events safely
- Get tested if you have symptoms of COVID-19covid 19 or if you have been identified as a high-risk close contact of a COVID-19covid 19 case by public health
What Vaccines Should My Child Receive
Your child should receive all the recommended vaccines. The timing for each shot may be slightly different depending on where you live. Here is what the Canadian Paediatric Society and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization currently recommend:
- 5-in-1 or 6-in-1 vaccine , DPT-polio, or Hib vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, and Hib disease, as well as hepatitis B if 6-in-1.
- Rotavirus vaccine protects infants against rotavirus, the most common cause of serious diarrhea in babies and young children.
- Pneumococcal vaccine protects against infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, including meningitis , pneumonia, and ear infections.
- Meningococcal vaccine protects against diseases caused by the meningococcus bacteria, including meningitis and septicemia, a serious blood infection.
- MMR vaccine protects against measles, mumps, and rubella.
- Varicella vaccine protects against chickenpox, a very uncomfortable and sometimes serious infection.
- Hepatitis B vaccine protects against hepatitis B, a serious infection of the liver.
- dTap vaccine protects adolescents against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis .
- HPV vaccine protects against the types of HPV that cause cervical cancer, some other cancers, and genital warts.
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Rationale For Vaccinating Adolescents And Children
Vaccines which have received authorization by stringent regulatory authorities for the age indication of children and adolescents are safe and effective in reducing disease burden in these age groups.
Although benefit-risk assessments clearly underpin the benefit of vaccinating all age groups, including children and adolescents, the direct health benefit of vaccinating children and adolescents is lower compared with vaccinating older adults due to the lower incidence of severe COVID-19 and deaths in younger persons. Safety signals identified after widespread roll-out, such as myocarditis, albeit rare, are reported more frequently in young persons aged 16-24 years, particularly males the risk of myocarditis in adolescents and/or children has not yet been determined.
Reducing intergenerational transmission is an important additional public health objective when vaccinating children and adolescents. Prior to the emergence of the delta variant, it was reported that the risk of symptomatic cases in household contacts of vaccinated cases was about 50% lower than that among household contacts of unvaccinated cases. However, the impact of vaccination on reducing transmission in the context of the more transmissible delta variant appears to be lower. Teachers, family members, and other adult contacts of children and adolescents should all be vaccinated.
How Much Do Vaccines Cost
Washington teens younger than age 19 can get immunizations at no cost. You might have to pay a small charge for the office visit or for vaccine administration. However, you can ask for the fee to be waived if you can’t afford it. Clinics that get state-supplied vaccine are forbidden by law from denying your child a vaccine because you cannot pay. Most health insurance plans cover preventive health care costs, including vaccination, without applying deductibles or co-pays
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Long Covid In Children
The term long COVID is commonly used to describe signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute COVID-19 .
Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty thinking or concentrating , headache, anosmia , and sore throat. Young children may have trouble describing the problems they are experiencing.
Persistent symptoms have been reported following COVID-19, though long COVID is less common in children. Studies have reported long-term symptoms in children with both mild and severe acute COVID-19, including children who previously had Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome .
What Can Parents Do In The Meantime To Protect Younger Children While They Wait For The Vaccine
The best thing to do is surround young children with people who have been fully vaccinated, as well as boosted, if eligible, against COVID-19.
In addition, keep doing what youve been doing all along to keep your children safe:
- teach your children over age 2 how to appropriately wear a mask, and wear high-quality and well-fitted masks in public spaces and when around people from outside your household
- wash hands frequently and thoroughly
- limit your activities to open spaces without crowds
- stay home when sick and
- ensure you and your children are current on all vaccines they are eligible for, especially this years influenza vaccine.
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Recommended Vaccines For Your Child
Updating a child’s immunizations is an annual back-to-school rite of passage for all parents. The American Academy of Pediatrics traditionally recommends that children receive nine vaccines for 13 primary childhood diseases.
The nine traditional vaccines are:
Two additional vaccines to consider include:
- Human papillomavirus or HPV Vaccine: Recommended for girls 11 and 12 years old to prevent cervical cancer, precancerous genital lesions and genital warts due to HPV. The vaccine, called Gardasil, gives protection against four different strains of HPV. The inoculation is administered in a series of three injections over a six-month period. The second and third doses should be given two and six months, respectively, after the first dose. HPV vaccine may be given at the same time as other vaccines.
- Rotavirus Vaccine: Vaccine will immunize children against rotavirus, a viral infection that can cause severe diarrhea, vomiting, fever and dehydration in infants and young children.
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals medical specialists have reviewed this information. It is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your child’s doctor or other health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with your child’s provider.
If Your Child Is Not Up
Children and youth who are not up-to-date on other vaccines can still receive a COVID-19covid 19 vaccine.
If you or your child are behind on immunizations, we encourage you to contact your health care provider to get up-to-date.
Children between five and 11 years of age may be recommended to wait 14 days before or after the administration of another vaccine before getting their COVID-19covid 19 vaccine. Speak with your health care provider if you have questions.
Learn more about vaccines for children.
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