Get Your Child’s Vaccines on Schedule

Vaccines (also called shots or immunizations) help protect children from serious diseases. Getting your child vaccinated also protects other people in your community who may not be able to get vaccines.

Vaccines work best when children get them at certain ages. Making sure your child gets vaccinated on schedule helps keep them healthy.

It’s important for your child to get all recommended vaccines.

Getting all recommended vaccines will help protect your child from diseases that can be dangerous or even deadly, including:

• Measles
• Whooping cough (pertussis)
• Chickenpox
• Hepatitis A and B

Many vaccines require more than 1 dose. For the best protection, your child needs to get every recommended dose of each vaccine. If your child misses a dose, they may not be protected.

It’s important for every child to get vaccinated.

Thanks to vaccines, many serious childhood diseases that used to be common are now rare. But the bacteria and viruses (germs) that cause these diseases are still around.

Each child who isn't vaccinated can get sick themselves — or spread those germs to other people.

When does my child need these vaccines?

Children need to get different vaccines at different ages. Doctors follow a schedule for vaccines that begins at birth.

• Use this parent-friendly vaccine schedule to find out when kids age 6 years or younger need vaccines
• If you think your child may have missed some vaccines, talk to the doctor about "catch-up" vaccines
• Doctors recommend that pre-teens ages 11 and 12 years get important vaccines, too — find out more about vaccines for pre-teens 

Ask the doctor for a list of the vaccines your child has gotten. Keep the list in a safe place — you'll need it for school and other activities. Kids who aren't up to date on their vaccines may not be allowed to go to certain schools. 

Are there any side effects from these vaccines?

Side effects from vaccines are usually mild and go away after a few days. The most common side effect is pain or redness where the vaccine was given. Some children don’t have any side effects at all.

Vaccines are very safe.

Vaccines go through a careful testing process before doctors start giving them to people. Also, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continue to track vaccines to make sure they're safe. The chance that a vaccine will cause a serious problem is very small.

Vaccines don’t cause autism.

Autism is a brain disorder that can cause social, communication, and behavioral issues. For example, kids with autism may have trouble talking and connecting with other people.

Some people have worried that autism could be linked to childhood vaccines. But many studies have shown that vaccines don’t cause autism.

To learn more about kids and vaccines, read these answers to common questions.