Vaccine Program Updates and Holiday Hours

This memo provides important updates regarding the Vaccine Program, including information on the current IPV vaccine supply shortage and details about holiday hours and service availability.

IPV Vaccine Supply Shortage

We are advising you that a supply shortage of IPV has been reported for the province of Ontario. Additional IPV stock is expected to be available from the Ministry of Health in late December 2025.

For the duration of this shortage, for individuals who require exclusively polio vaccination (IPV), Tdap-IPV can be used instead. We encourage you to offer Tdap-IPV to patients where appropriate in the absence of IPV.

Please take note of the following key points when administering Tdap-IPV:

• Please review the age and vaccination history of the individual and ensure that another polio-containing vaccine is not more appropriate
  • i.e. for children under the age of 7 review whether vaccination with DTaP-IPV-Hib (Pentacel/Pediacel) is more appropriate
  • Please consult the Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule for more information
• Where administering Tdap-IPV for the sole purpose of polio immunization, there is no minimum interval between a previous dose of tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis containing vaccine and extra doses are considered safe. However, where completing a catch-up vaccination schedule for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis and or/for subsequent doses of polio containing vaccine, please refer to the appropriate catch-up schedules and Table 22 in the Publicly Funded Immunization Schedule.

If you have already placed an order for IPV, a representative from our Public Health team will contact you directly.

Tuberculin Ordering

Health Care Professionals no longer need to submit clients’ names, dates of birth, or criteria when ordering Tuberculin from Public Health. With this change, Hamilton Public Health has updated the vaccine order forms and moved Tuberculin to the Routine Vaccine Order Form.

All order forms are available on our Health Care Professionals webpage under Vaccine Ordering, Cold Chain and Adverse Event Reporting.

For the most up to date provincial requirements, please refer to section 8.2.1 of the TB Program Guideline: Tuberculosis Program Guideline - English (PDF)

Holiday Closure Updates

Vaccine Ordering:

The last day to place a vaccine order is Friday, December 19, 2025, at 4:30 pm. The final delivery date will be Tuesday, December 23, 2025. Processing of vaccine orders will resume on January 2, 2025. Please be aware that there may be delays in order processing in the new year due to the backlog accumulated during this shutdown period.

Vaccine Program Holiday Hours:

• Monday December 22, 2025: Regular Business hours 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
• Tuesday December 23, 2025: Regular Business hours 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
• Wednesday December 24, 2025: Regular Business hours 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
• Thursday December 25, 2025: CLOSED
• Friday December 26, 2025: CLOSED
• Monday December 29, 2025: CLOSED
• Tuesday December 30, 2025: CLOSED
• Wednesday December 31, 2025: CLOSED
• Thursday January 1, 2026: CLOSED
• Friday January 2, 2026: Return to Business as Usual 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Vaccine Storage and Handling:

To report issues with vaccine storage, such as fridge temperatures below 20C or above 80C, call 905-546-2424 ext. 4777. Following the Storage and Handling guidelines, do NOT use vaccine. Leave vaccines in the fridge and a nurse will be in contact with you on January 2, 2025 regarding next steps.

Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI):

Please fax any Adverse Events Following Immunization forms to 844-444-0295. A Public Health Nurse will begin their investigation January 2, 2025.