Community paramedicine vaccination programs reach clients who won't go to a clinic. The homebound elderly patient, the individual with mobility limitations, the person in a remote rural location — the paramedic comes to them. The immunization record that documents what was given, when, at what dose, and with what clinical context is the document that ties the field administration to the public health immunization registry and to the client's ongoing care record.
The Immunization Record as a Public Health Document
vaccine name with dosage and units are the three fields that make the immunization record medically and legally complete. A vaccination entry that says "influenza vaccine given" without the specific formulation, dose in micrograms, and unit of measurement is a record that can't support provincial immunization registry reporting, can't be used to confirm a client's immunization status to their family physician, and can't be audited for protocol compliance.
The specific vaccine name matters because the same disease can be prevented by multiple available products with different dosing schedules, different storage requirements, and different contraindication profiles. Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent, designed for adults over 65, is not interchangeable with standard-dose formulations for the same age group — both prevent influenza, but at different doses and with different evidence bases for high-risk populations.
dosage and units together are the administration verification fields. A paramedic preparing a vaccine draws a specific amount in specific units; those numbers go into the record before disposal of the packaging. A subsequent healthcare provider reviewing the record can confirm both what was given and that it matches the standard dose for the specific product and patient age group. Discrepancies between the standard dose and the logged dose trigger a clinical review rather than being lost to undocumented administration.
The Client Profile Linkage
Client Profile attached to each vaccination entry links the immunization record to the full patient clinical context. Allergies — particularly egg allergy for certain influenza vaccines, latex allergy for products with rubber stoppers, history of GBS following prior influenza vaccination — are the contraindication data that the paramedic must review before administration. With the client profile linked, that review is part of the standard pre-administration check rather than a separate lookup process.
The profile also holds the current medications. Some vaccine interactions require awareness — immunosuppressants that affect vaccine efficacy, anticoagulants that affect injection site choice and post-administration monitoring requirements. A vaccination record that exists without access to the current medication list is a clinical risk.
date is the administration timestamp that goes into the provincial immunization registry. Ontario's provincial digital immunization repository (the Digital Health Immunization Repository) requires date of administration for every dose. The community paramedicine program's vaccination records feed that registry, making the date field not just a logistical record but a public health surveillance input.
comments handles the clinical notes that surround the administration event: the patient's reaction, any local site reactions, the lot number and expiry date of the product administered, the anatomical site used, whether the patient required post-administration observation time due to a prior adverse event history. These aren't optional additions — they're the adverse event documentation that the program's safety monitoring process depends on.