School is just around the corner, time to think about immunizations

The best time of the year– for parents at least — is fast approaching!

The start of the school year is just around the corner, but is your child up to date on their immunizations?

Some parents may even ask themselves — is it important to to stay up to date with your immunizations?

“Two reasons to get immunized, the first and the most important for most families, is to protect your kids and protect yourself.. the second reason is to protect the community. There are people who can’t get vaccinated, there are children who are under going cancer therapy, there are some people who can’t build an immune response to vaccines, so there is a small portion of the community that even if they are vaccinated their body just doesn’t build that immunity and the elderly don’t build as strong as a response or infants,” says David Aoki, Acting Manager of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, for Region of Waterloo Public Health.

Schools in the region start up on September 5th, and while you don’t have to have your child immunized for the start of school, it is a good practice to get into to keep everyone safe.

Public Health issues warning letters to those who have not been immunized in October through to December, and if those warnings are not dealt with, there is a possibility for your child to get suspended.

Aoki says, “To clarify our process, the suspensions we ordered last year, were in place for up to 20 days, shorter if the student received his required vaccines earlier. Those students were eligible to return to school before the end of last year, and would still be able to attend school this year in September. Our Suspension orders do not carry over to the following school year.”

There is no reason to be worried as of yet, but keeping up to date with your immunizations is a good habit to get into.

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