All children attending Camp Ramah must be up-to-date in their routine childhood immunization as determined by the provincial schedule.  There is misinformation in the general public about vaccinations.  Some parents have opted to defer the vaccination of their children.  While individual parents may choose to defer the vaccination of their children, for Camp Ramah this is not an issue of individual rights and choice, but an issue of public health and policy.  The routine vaccination of all campers and staff is an important public health matter especially in the confined environment of a sleep away summer camp.  Outbreaks of preventable infectious diseases have occurred in these settings.

Safety and public health are priorities for all of the Ramah camps.  The vaccination of all members of the Ramah community is essential in order to maintain a safe environment and decrease the risk of transmission of these preventable illnesses.  The establishment of a safe camp environment must therefore include the requirement that all members of the Camp Ramah community be adequately immunized according to the routine childhood schedule.  This is a public health policy that Camp Ramah must endorse. 

Required Immunizations

1. DTPT (Diptheria, Tetanus, Polio, Pertussis (Whooping Cough) - A series of a minimum of four doses, with the last dose within 10 years of the start of the camp session.


2. MMR (Mumps, Measles, Rubella) - A series of two doses.


3. Chicken Pox  - Vaccination or history of illness. If vaccination is done after 13 years of age, 2 doses are required, 1month apart

Recommended Immunizations

4. Meningococcal Vaccine – 1 dose (given routinely in Grade 7 by local public health units in Ontario) As recommended as per the local public health unit schedule.


5. Hepatitis B – 2 doses when given in adolescence (given routinely in Grade 7 by local public health units in Ontario)


6.  Hepatitis A (not publicly funded but recommended. Two doses provide long-term protection