Vaccines and other appointments for the return to school

The optometrist

Parents are advised to give their child an eye exam as soon as they enter kindergarten. Indeed, good vision is a factor of academic success. According to the Association des optometrists du Québec, 80% of a child's learning is through their vision and nearly 25% of children in the country have undetected vision problems. It is therefore better to put the odds on our side and put this important meeting on the agenda!

Since certain vision problems are often detected in children who have no symptoms, it is recommended that you have this exam done on an annual basis throughout your child's school career.

Vaccine Update

Has your 5 year old been vaccinated for chickenpox and diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus-polio? And has your 9-year-old got his Hepatitis B vaccine? Will the school hold a human papillomavirus vaccination campaign this year?

Notalways easy to know where we are… even more so if we can no longer find our child's famous vaccination record! We are therefore taking advantage of the start of the school year to put all this in order and make sure that our child has indeed received all his vaccines.

Know that children in grade 4^e and grade 3^{e receive certain vaccines in school. These immunization sessions usually take place in the fall or spring. Your child's school should give you all the information about this.}

Good to know

In Quebec, although vaccination is strongly recommended, no law requires you to have your child vaccinated. You therefore do not have to provide proof of vaccination at school. On the other hand, a Director of Public He alth can exclude unvaccinated children from their school for a specific period of time when an infectious disease outbreak occurs. This happened, among other things, in April 2015 for an outbreak of measlesin the Lanaudière region.

Immunization schedule for school-aged children

In Quebec, all vaccines listed in the recommended vaccination scheduleare offered free of charge.

Vaccine that protects against…	Between 4 and 6 years old	In 4e primary grade	In 3e high school
Meningococcus C			x
Chickenpox	X Since April 1st, 2016
Diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus-polio	x
Diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus			x
Hepatitis B		X The vaccine used also protects against Hepatitis A
Human Papillomavirus		X Boys have also been vaccinated since 1st September 2016