National Immunization Awareness Week (NIAW) April 25 - May 2, 2009

Take a moment this National Immunization Awareness Week to review your own immunization status and those of your family. Make note of upcoming immunization schedules to ensure everyone is immunized on time, and be sure to keep a record of your immunizations. It's one of the best health measures you can take to protect yourself and your family.

There are many factors that affect immunization needs, including occupation, foreign travel, underlying illness and age. Children, adolescents, adults all have varying needs for immunization, so it's important to talk to your healthcare professional to learn which immunizations are recommended for your and your family.

Keeping immunizations up-to-date is a lifelong process that begins at birth and continues throughout your lifetime. Talk to your doctor, public health nurse or pharmacist to find what vaccines you and your children need and when each one must be administered.  For more information to help ensure your and your family's continued health, take a look at our adult immunization and child routine immunization schedules.

Keeping immunization up-to-date is important since experience from other countries shows us that when immunization rates drop, rates of vaccine-preventable diseases can rise and spread quickly among those who aren't protected against them.

Global Initiatives to Strengthen Immunization

The 2009 National Immunization Awareness week in Canada coincides with the 6th Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWIA), an initiative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to strengthen immunization by running public awareness or mass vaccination campaigns during this time period. VWIA has now expanded to European countries and other countries around the world. 

Canada is a member of the PAHO and our government supports Vaccination Week in the Americas by collaborating with the Canadian Coalition for Immunization Awareness and Promotion to promote National Immunization Awareness Week in Canada. 

The 2009 National Immunization Awareness Week Campaign is carried out by mobilizing and providing immunization promotional materials and practice guidelines tools to health professionals across all jurisdictions to support their local, regional and provincial immunization promotion activities.

Information For Immunization Providers

Canadian Immunization Guide 2006
All recommendations by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) on the use of vaccines in Canada are contained in this 410-page guide.

 

Immunization Schedules for Children & Adults Recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.