Childhood Vaccinations: Common Questions Answered

The routine immunisation schedule offered free from eight weeks of age.

Key takeaways

• Schedule starts: 8 weeks
• MMR: first dose around 1 year, second before school
• Most useful single change: Keep the red book or vaccination record up to date.
• Commonest mistake: Delaying doses, which leaves a window of vulnerability.
• See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.

What is Childhood Vaccinations?

The routine immunisation schedule offered free from eight weeks of age.

Why does it matter?

Uptake below the level needed for herd immunity has allowed measles outbreaks to return, and catch-up is available at any age.

Schedule starts for Childhood Vaccinations?

8 weeks.

HPV vaccine for Childhood Vaccinations?

Offered in Year 8, to all genders.

Teenage booster and MenACWY for Childhood Vaccinations?

Around Year 9.

What is the single most useful thing to do?

Keep the red book or vaccination record up to date.

What is the most common mistake?

Delaying doses, which leaves a window of vulnerability.

When should I see a doctor?

Call 999 for swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, difficulty breathing, or collapse after vaccination — anaphylaxis is rare and immediate. Seek urgent advice for a fever in a baby under three months, a rash that does not fade under pressure, a floppy or unresponsive child, or a seizure.

Where to go next

• Myths About Childhood Vaccinations, Checked Against the Guidance
• Starting Out With Childhood Vaccinations
• Childhood Vaccinations — the reference entry
• Fever in Children: What Published Guidance Supports
• Childhood Nutrition: Sorting the Evidence From the Noise

When to speak to a doctor

Call 999 for swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, difficulty breathing, or collapse after vaccination — anaphylaxis is rare and immediate. Seek urgent advice for a fever in a baby under three months, a rash that does not fade under pressure, a floppy or unresponsive child, or a seizure.

Where this comes from

• UK Health Security Agency — routine immunisation schedule
• NHS — Vaccinations for children

How this page was put together

Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.

Medical disclaimer

This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.