Your Immunization Records

 

Access & Update your Immunization Card

 

For health and safety reasons, everyone, including adults, needs to have a personal immunization record showing dates of all vaccinations since birth.

Grey Bruce Public Health only maintains immunization records for children under 18 years of age.

If you are 18 or older, you are responsible for keeping your own immunization records:

• Bring your yellow immunization card to each immunization appointment. Make sure all vaccines you get are written on this card.
• Keep a back-up copy of your immunization records in a safe place with your important papers.

Note: Any immunization records submitted to Grey Bruce Public Health for people 18 or older will be safely destroyed.

 

For children and adolescents from 0-17 years of age, Grey Bruce Public Health is mandated to maintain immunization records. In Ontario, The Law requires that children registered in schools and daycares must be completely immunized (or have valid exemptions in place) according to the Immunization of School Pupils Act and the Child Care and Early Years Act (see Section 35).

Keeping your kids safe and healthy is everyone's number one priority.

If there is an outbreak, immunization records let us know which students may be at risk of getting a vaccine preventable disease, and help control the spread of disease in our communities.

Children who are not fully immunized may not be allowed to attend school.

Check with your health care provider or local public health unit to make sure your child has all the vaccines needed to attend school.

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/immunization/docs/immuniz_school_chklist_en.pdf

 

Can’t find your immunization records?

Some ideas to help piece together an immunization record:

• Call all previous health care offices where immunizations were received including: doctor and nurse practitioner offices, urgent care or hospital emergency departments, local public health agencies.
• When physicians retire or a medical practice changes hands, you may be able to obtain records by contacting the College of Physicians and Surgeons at 1-800-268-7096. A fee may be charged.
• At home: look through your old papers, including baby books and school or camp forms.
• Ask your parent or guardian if they still have your childhood records.
• Schools, colleges universities or other post-secondary institutions: contact schools attended in the past.
• Previous employers: contact previous employers including the military.

 

What do I do if I don't find any immunization records?

If you can’t find any records, repeat vaccines might be needed. It is not harmful to receive additional immunization doses. For a few immunizations, blood tests may be useful to show if you're already immune to certain diseases. Please discuss this with your Doctor or Nurse Practitioner who can order blood tests for you and plan immunizations as needed.

 

Immunization records are often needed for:

• childcare,
• kindergarten,
• school,
• summer camp,
• college, university or other post-high school training,
• future employment, and
• international travel
• a new Doctor or Nurse Practitioner, may need your immunization records for you to receive medical care.

 

Next time, avoid searching for old records and repeating undocumented immunizations:

• Bring immunization records to every medical appointment.
• Try keeping immunization records with OHIP cards. A vinyl sleeve, or a Ziploc bag is a good idea to keep everything together.
• Keep a back-up copy of immunization records where you store your important papers. Make sure all vaccines you are given are documented on this card and the back-up copy.

 

It is your responsibility to keep immunization records. It will help to save your time, and keep you ready with your immunization history whenever you need it.