COVID-19 - Get vaccinated and find public health advice for residents and businesses.
With every vaccination, you're protecting you and your child from serious diseases. You're also protecting people around you who may be at risk for disease.
Watch the video: immunity and vaccines explained.
Most individuals don't experience any serious side effects after receiving a vaccine. The most common side effects are usually mild and may include the following:
Common side effects don't have to be reported. If your symptoms worsen, contact your health care provider or go to the closest hospital.
In rare cases, an individual may have a serious allergic reaction. The risks of a serious reaction from a vaccine are minor compared to getting the actual disease.
There is a 15-minute wait time after a vaccination to make sure that there are no immediate reactions.
After receiving a vaccination, it's important to monitor yourself or someone in your care for a few days. Pay attention for any of the following symptoms or reactions:
If you're concerned about how you or someone you're caring for looks or feels after a vaccine:
An adverse event following immunization is called an AEFI. They are classified as:
Vaccine safety is taken very seriously in Canada. Reporting an adverse event is important to ensure continued safety of vaccines. Health care providers who administer vaccines are required by law to report an adverse event following immunization.
Most reported adverse events are mild. The most frequently reported reactions are:
For information specific to children and adverse events, see the AEFI fact sheet for parents.
To learn more about vaccine safety and surveillance, visit Public Health Ontario's vaccine safety and surveillance tool.
Not all reactions are considered reportable adverse events. Most reportable adverse events must be diagnosed by a physician. These reactions are marked with an asterisk (*) in section 3 of the adverse event form. Some adverse events may need medical treatment.
We recommend and encourage individuals to have the adverse event form filled out by a health care provider. Otherwise, individuals can complete the adverse event form themselves for any adverse events that do not require physician diagnosis and submit the report to the Vaccine Preventable Disease program at Niagara Region Public Health.
The adverse event form involves personal health information. Communications by email are not secure and / or protected. There is a possibility that information you include in the email can be intercepted in transmission or misdirected. Niagara Region Public Health cannot guarantee security with emails. Niagara Region Public Health will not send emails that include your personal health information.
If you have questions about reporting an adverse event related to COVID-19 vaccine(s), call the COVID-19 Info-Line at 905-688-8248 or 1-888-505-6074 press 7.
For questions about reporting adverse events for non-COVID-19 vaccine(s), call the Vaccine Team 905-688-8248 or 1-888-505-6074 ext. 7425.
To learn more about common side effects from COVID-19 vaccines, visit the Ministry of Health's after your COVID-19 vaccine fact sheet or our frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.
For COVID-19 vaccine information, call the Provincial Vaccine Information Line at 1-888-999-6488.