Your pediatrician cares about your child’s health and development. To help keep kids healthy, they follow the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule.
The AAP schedule has the latest, trusted guidance on when
children and
teens should receive each vaccine or immunization. To be included in the recommended schedule, the well-studied vaccines must be
licensed by the Food and Drug Administration.
View recommended immunizations by age here:
Following this schedule helps babies, children and teens stay healthy by keeping them ahead of serious, preventable diseases such as
measles and
pertussis (whooping cough), as well as the fall respiratory viruses
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),
influenza and
COVID.
If you have questions about vaccines, don't hesitate to ask your pediatrician! They know your child's health history and can talk with you about specific vaccines.
Why should all children and teens follow the same recommended vaccine schedule?
The schedule is considered the ideal schedule for healthy children as their immune system develops. And when everyone is vaccinated, diseases have a hard time spreading. It helps keep your child healthy while also protecting others in the community who cannot get vaccinated.
There are very few reasons to vary from the
recommended immunization schedule. For example, if your child has a chronic condition or takes medicine that weakens their immune system, they may need additional doses or a different type of vaccine. Talk to your pediatrician about vaccines if you have concerns or questions.
A vaccine may be given in one or more doses.
The timing for each dose of a vaccine is based on:
what age a child's immune system provides optimal protection after vaccination, and
the earliest possible time to provide protection balanced with the age the child is at highest risk for a disease.
Your pediatrician stays updated about any
changes to the immunization schedule.
What if my child missed a shot or is behind schedule?
Getting your child vaccinated on the recommended schedule is the best way to keep them healthy. If your child misses a shot, you don't need to start over. Call your pediatrician's office. They can explain which shots your child can get to stay up to date and help set up your child’s next visit.
Can the shots be spread out over a longer period of time?
For several reasons, it's not recommended to spread out vaccines over a longer period of time. Spreading out vaccines leaves your child’s immune system waiting to learn when it could be getting ahead of preventable diseases. On-time immunization is important to maximize your child’s protection against infections.
Why altering the vaccine schedule is not good for kids
The AAP recommended schedule is
designed to work best with a child's immune system at certain ages and at specific time intervals between doses. There is no research to show that a child would be equally protected against diseases with a very different schedule. Also, there is no scientific reason why spreading out the shots would be safer. But we do know that any length of time without immunizations is a time without protection against vaccine preventable diseases.
Pediatric researchers are always studying how long vaccine protection lasts, how many doses we need and how much time between doses works best. That is why your child needs the flu shot every year, but for another vaccine, your child may develop lifelong protection from two or more doses spaced months or years apart.
Your pediatrician knows the science, your child’s unique health needs and has been paying attention to your child's development for months and years.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of
false rumors online about vaccines for kids. This includes people making unsupported claims, often for personal gain such as selling books or advertisements on their websites. They might not have your child's best interest at heart.
Pediatricians encourage on-time vaccination because they care about your child. Ask your pediatrician to explain the vaccine schedule if you have questions.
What is community immunity?
When most people in the community have immunity to a disease. With community immunity, it is less likely for that disease to spread.
Does it overwhelm a child's immune system to give multiple shots in one visit?
No. We know
multiple shots can be given together effectively and safely. Each childhood vaccine has been carefully tested on its own and in combination with others.
The AAP schedule is based on the times when the vaccines work best with children’s immune systems. Sometimes, this means that your child will get multiple shots in a short period of time.
Should my child get vaccines if they are sick?
If your child is sick, talk with your pediatrician. Often, they can still get vaccinated even if they have a mild illness like a cold, earache, low fever or diarrhea. Receiving vaccines that same day saves time because your child will not need an extra appointment. Your pediatrician will be happy to talk with you about this.
Why does my child still need a vaccine if these diseases are mostly gone?
Smallpox is the only disease that has been eliminated completely by vaccines.
We still need vaccines for the other diseases that can spread in our communities. Vaccines prepare the body's immune system to resist contagious diseases.
For example, the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine has worked very well in the U.S. for decades. Lately, fewer people have had all recommended doses of MMR vaccine. This has allowed illnesses like measles to start to rise again.
In 2025, the U.S. had the most measles infections in 30 years. Most of the people who got measles were not vaccinated.
It is because of vaccines and
community immunity that children rarely get serious diseases like tetanus, measles, rubella, meningitis and polio. We cannot predict which children will have a mild case and who will get severely sick when infected. So, we must continue using every tool to protect children, including vaccines.
Can you get a disease from a vaccine?
A vaccine does not cause disease in healthy people. If the virus or bacteria is used as an
ingredient in the vaccine, it is either not alive or very, very weak.
Vaccines have active
ingredients that give information to your child's immune system, so it knows how to create its own antibodies. Here's how that works.
Just like a child learns to read, their immune system learns, too. A vaccine is like a book that teaches the immune system to recognize and resist a disease. All it takes is a tiny amount of active ingredients in each vaccine for the immune system to understand and remember what to do when it sees the actual virus or bacteria.
There are some vaccines that use a live, weakened virus. This type of vaccine very rarely can cause disease for people who have illnesses affecting their immune system such as cancer, or who require medicine that affects their immune system. Because of this, their doctor may instead provide a different form of the vaccine or advise them to not get that one vaccine. (Learn why it’s important for your child to get recommended
vaccines to attend school or child care.)
Do vaccines cause autism?
No, vaccines do not cause autism. Children get several vaccines between ages one and two. This is also the time some children start to show symptoms of autism. Although they happen around the same time, one does not cause the other. Medical researchers have
confirmed that they are not related.
What if my child has a side effect from a vaccine?
Mild side effects, such as redness, swelling and pain at the site of injection, are common. Sometimes when you get a vaccine, you may get a low fever or your body aches. This is a sign your body is developing immunity to the disease. The side effects go away shortly after the vaccine.
Very rarely, serious reactions can occur from a vaccine. But the risk of the disease itself is far greater and far more common than serious reactions from vaccines.
Remember
If you have questions about vaccines or the vaccine schedule, talk with your pediatrician. They care about your child and your family, and they've been with you every step of the way.
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