The Grey Bruce Health Unit is holding catchup vaccine clinics in area secondary schools this month for routine, publicly funded immunizations.

Hepatitis B, Meningococcal and HPV-9 (Human Papillomavirus) vaccines will be provided to Grade 9/10 students who have not received their Grade 7 vaccinations or received only one dose of the two-dose Hepatitis B or HPV-9 vaccines.

The clinics are being held as part of Public Health’s efforts to address a backlog of students requiring Grade 7 vaccinations after in-school clinics were paused in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 emergency.

The tetanus, diphtheria, acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine will also be available for students who are due for their age 14-16 tetanus booster. A schedule of the May in-school clinics is available here.

Secondary school students are able to give informed consent for themselves, as per the Health Care Consent Act. However, the Grey Bruce Health Unit encourages parents/guardians to discuss immunizations with their children and take advantage of the in-school clinics.

If consent for the two-dose Hepatitis B or HPV-9 vaccines was provided for previous first-dose clinics, this consent applied to the full series, meaning another consent for the second dose is not required.

Research is very clear about the safety profile of the routine, publicly funded vaccines and their effectiveness at preventing serious diseases and/or their complications.

No COVID-19 vaccinations will be given at the in-school routine vaccination clinics.

source: GBHU website