Vaccines protect babies and children from potentially life-threatening diseases. Widespread childhood vaccination has reduced or eliminated deadly diseases like polio and smallpox. Vaccines currently prevent around 3.5 million to 5 million deaths per year.
Following the recommended immunization schedule protects children and those around them from avoidable health risks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that kids receive vaccines against 16 preventable diseases in the United States.
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Vaccine Types and Routes
Vaccines trigger your body to produce antibodies against diseases before you’re exposed to them. They can also prevent reinfection. Vaccines work with the body’s natural immune system to make a protective response to harmful antigens (viruses or bacteria).
There are several vaccine types. The four main types used in children's vaccines include:
- Inactivated vaccines: These contain a dead version of the virus they protect against. They aren’t quite as strong as live vaccines, so your child may need booster shots to maintain immunity.
- Live-attenuated vaccines: These vaccines contain a weakened, harmless version of an antigen. They're usually more powerful than inactivated vaccines and can provide lifetime protection against smallpox, measles, mumps, and rubella.
- Recombinant vaccines: These vaccines behave like a natural infection, using the proteins of a virus to activate the body's immune response. Examples include the hepatitis B vaccine and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.
- Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines: These vaccines, such as the COVID-19 vaccine, make proteins that trigger an immune response by showing the body a “blueprint” for fighting the virus.
There are several ways that your baby or child might receive a vaccine. The main ways vaccines for children are administered include:
- Oral vaccines: These are delivered in liquid through a dropper, often to babies and younger patients.
- Intramuscular (IM) injections: These are injected directly into the muscle.
- Subcutaneous (SC) injections: SC injections are injected below the skin.
- Nasal sprays: These are available for the influenza vaccine.
Recommended Vaccines
The following are the most common immunizations for children in the U.S. and the diseases they prevent:
- Hepatitis B (HepB) vaccine: Hepatitis B is a viral infection that can affect the liver, sometimes resulting in liver failure or cancer of the liver. The HepB vaccine is given in three doses, with the first just after birth.
- Rotavirus (RV) vaccine: Babies can get a two-dose series at 2 and 4 months or a three-dose series at 2, 4, and 6 months to protect against rotavirus infection, which can cause severe diarrhea, dehydration, and fever.
- DTap and Tdap vaccines: The DTap vaccine protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough). The Tdap vaccine is a recommended booster shot against the same infections.
- Haemophilus influenza (Hib) conjugate vaccine: The Hib vaccine prevents Hib infection. Hib infection can cause several serious complications, including meningitis and pneumonia.
- Pneumococcal vaccine (Prevnar 13 and Vaxneuvance): Pneumococcal disease is caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae and can lead to meningitis, pneumonia, or sepsis.
- Poliovirus (IPV) vaccine: The polio vaccine protects children against the highly contagious poliovirus. Polio used to affect thousands of children per year, causing paralysis or even death.
- Hepatitis A (HepA) vaccine: Hepatitis A is a viral liver infection that can cause fever, jaundice (a yellowing of the whites of the eyes and the skin), and severe dehydration.
- MMR vaccine: The MMR vaccine protects children against three formerly common childhood diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella.
- Varicella (VAR) vaccine: The VAR vaccine prevents chickenpox and is given in two doses, starting at 12 months of age.
- Meningococcal vaccine (MenACWY and MenB): The meningococcal vaccine protects against bacterial meningitis, which can be especially risky for teens and young adults living in close quarters (such as at camp or college).
- Influenza vaccine: The annual flu vaccine protects against the influenza virus. There are six different types of flu vaccines for school-aged kids.
- HPV vaccine: The HPV vaccine protects against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes some strains of cervical cancer and anal cancer.
School Requirements
School vaccine requirements are left to the individual states. In addition to medical exemptions, two other vaccine exemptions are possible: religious and philosophical exemptions based on personal beliefs.
Child Vaccine Schedule at a Glance
A CDC committee, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), sets the annual vaccine schedule. The list of vaccines for children by age is updated annually with input from medical experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and several other organizations.
The list of recommended vaccines that most children between birth and 18 years old need is compiled in the chart below. All of these vaccines are important to a child's health.
Your child's healthcare provider is an excellent resource if you have questions about the schedule or which vaccines are most important for your child.
Vaccine Schedule | ||
---|---|---|
Vaccine | Doses | Age |
HepB | 3 | Birth, 1–2 months, 6–18 months |
RV | 2–3 | 2 and 4 months or 2, 4, and 6 months |
DTaP | 5 | 2, 4, 6, and 15–18 months; 4–6 years |
Hib | 3–4 | 2, 4, 6, and 12-15 months, or 2, 4, and 12-15 months |
Pneumococcal | 4 | 2, 4, 6–18 months and 12–15 months |
IPV | 4 | 2, 4, and 6–18 months; 4–6 years |
COVID-19 | At least 1 | 6 months and older |
Influenza | Annually | 6 months and older |
MMR | 2 | 12–15 months, 4–6 years |
VAR | 2 | 12–15 months, 4–6 years |
HepA | 2 | 12 and 18–23 months |
Tdap | 1 | 11–12 years |
HPV | 2–3 | 11–12 years, but can start at 9 years; 2-dose series if started at 9–14 years; 3–dose series if started at 15 years or older |
MenACWY | 2–3 | 11–12 years, 16 years |
Vaccine Hesitancy
Some caregivers are concerned vaccines are harmful, and some individuals believe vaccines are associated with the development of autism. However, several studies have explored if there is a connection and found no link between vaccines and the development of autism.
Some caregivers worry that vaccines for children haven't been tested enough. Others are concerned about potential side effects or vaccine reactions.
However, vaccines are generally safe and effective. Your child’s best protection against many common but preventable diseases is to follow the recommended immunization schedule.
Vaccine refusal risks a child developing a vaccine-preventable illness. Schools and daycare facilities may also have rules and regulations regarding unvaccinated children. Outbreaks of previously eliminated diseases, such as measles, have occurred due in part to individuals who believe vaccines are dangerous.
While most vaccines are safe for most kids, speak with your child’s pediatrician about any concerns you might have—especially if your child is immunocompromised, has had an organ transplant, or has any severe allergies or preexisting conditions.
Vaccine Safety
- Vaccines are effective and lifesaving. Vaccine-preventable diseases can still appear in the U.S. at any time, and immunization protects your child if they’re exposed.
- The AAP does not recommend alternative vaccine schedules. Research into the current schedule provides "overwhelming" data that vaccines are safe.
COVID-19 Vaccines for Kids
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized COVID-19 vaccines for children and recommends one for children 6 months and older. All available vaccines are updated doses that protect against newer variants of the virus.
In its update to the 2023 vaccination schedule, ACIP added COVID-19 vaccination to the schedules for children and adults. How many COVID vaccines your child needs depends on which COVID-19 vaccine they receive and if they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 previously.
Efficacy of the COVID-19 Vaccine for Kids
In a study of around 3,100 children, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was found to be safe and 90.7% effective in preventing COVID-19.
Summary
Vaccines are one of the most effective ways that parents and caregivers can protect their children from potentially life-threatening diseases. Children who follow the recommended immunization schedule are protected against 17 vaccine-preventable diseases by the time they turn 18.
Sometimes, life happens, and your child misses a vaccine. Fortunately, there are catch-up schedules, and your provider has information on how to proceed if a child gets delayed with their vaccinations. Contact your child's healthcare provider if you have questions about your child's vaccination schedule.