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Baby vaccines : Three vaccines added to routine childhood schedule

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Three publicly funded vaccines have been added to the recommended schedule of routine childhood immunizations – vaccines for chicken pox, meningococcal meningitis and pneumococcal disease.

Children can begin a four-dose series of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine at two months of age.

The varicella (chicken pox) vaccine will be available to 5-year-old children who have not yet had chicken pox, as well as high-risk people of all ages.

The meningococcal C-conjugate vaccine is now available to children aged 12 years, youth aged 15 to 19 years inclusive and high-risk people of all ages.

Vaccine	Who Qualifies	Diseases Prevented
Pneumococcal Conjugate	High-risk children 24 to 59 months of age	Invasive pneumococcal diseases (meningitis, pneumonia and infection of the bloodstream)
	All children under 2 years old born on or after January 1, 2004
	High-risk children under 2 years of age
Varicella	One-year-old children born on or after September 1, 2003	Chicken pox and its complications (e.g., bacterial skin infections)
	Five-year-old children who have not yet had chicken pox
	High-risk people of all ages
Meningococcal C-Conjugate	One-year-old children born on or after September 1, 2003	Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD), including meningitis and meningococcemia (meningococcal infection of the blood)
	Children who are HIV-positive and who were born on or after January 1, 2002
	Children 12 years of age, youth aged 15-19, and high-risk people of all ages
	People in close contact with a person who has meningococcal disease due to serogroup c

Talk to your doctor/nurse practitioner or local public health unit to find out if your child is eligible.



Call the ministry INFOline at 1-866-532-3161 (Toll-free in Ontario only) TTY 1-800-387-5559 Hours of operation : 8:30am - 5:00pm