Vaccine Schedule

Here is a break down of vaccine schedule at our practice, with links to the Vaccine Information Statements:

Annually at 6 months and above

Birth

2 month and 6 month

  • Pentacel (includes Hib, Polio, Tetanus, and Pertussis aka whooping cough), injection
  • Hib (see above) and Prevnar (fight against bacteria that frequently cause meningitis, pneumonia, and ear infections), injection
  • Rotavirus (fight against virus that causes vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration), oral
  • Hep B

4 month

  • Pentacel, Prevnar, Rotavirus

12 month

  • MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) and Varicella (chicken pox) – both live vaccines with weakened viruses. May cause fever and rash even up to 7-10 days after the vaccine.
  • Hepatitis A (virus that can cause liver infection, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration)

15 month

  • Prevnar and Hib

18 month

  • DTaP (tetanus and whooping cough vaccine) and Hep A

4 years old

  • MMR, Varicella, and Kinrix (combo of DTaP and Polio vaccines)

10 years old

  • TDaP (tetanus and pertussis)

11 years old

  • Meningococcal (against a 4 strains of a very contagious bacteria that can cause a brain infection, can be passed among kids/teens living in close quarters such as camps or dormitories)
  • HPV (against a wart virus that tends to develop into cancer in the cervix, penis, anus, head and neck), requires only one booster if given before 15 years old (yes, some parents delay this for whatever reason because of a friend of friend this or that or bc of something they read online). If given after 15, 2 boosters are required.

16 years old

  • Meningococcal booster

16-18 years old (when approaching college)

  • Meningitis B vaccine, booster required after one month. This meningitis vaccine covers shockingly the B strain of the bacteria that can cause infection of the brain leading to death. It is made in a different way than the other meningitis vaccine given at 11 and 16, so they can’t be combined into one vaccine. Recent outbreaks have lead to utilization of this vaccine.

Additional vaccine tips

  • Do not give fever reducing medications PRIOR to vaccines, as this can decrease the vaccine’s efficacy and may not be necessary anyway because not every child will display discomfort after vaccine administration.  Generally, even if the child develops a fever but is otherwise happy and eating well, then no medication is needed.  Consult your child’s pediatrician for specific concerns.  See dosage chart here.
  • May apply ice to injection site if causing discomfort. However, if swelling is noted but doesn’t affect the child, then no intervention is required. Call the doctor’s office with any questions.
  • If you like illustrations and graphics, check out the CDC’s colorful birth to 6 and preteen and teen 7 to 18 vaccine schedules.
  • We do not (intentionally to the best of our knowledge) accept new patients who are not vaccinated/do not plan on getting vaccines.  This has been a long standing practice in our office, but we wanted to state it again here to reassure our current patients that we are doing the best we can to care for and protect them.  We also try to practice evidence-based medicine, and giving vaccines according to the CDC guidelines is evidence-based medicine.