Latest Child Vaccination Guidelines

The 12 free vaccines in the National Immunization Program must be vaccinated 100% on time, and must be checked when entering kindergarten； Self-funded vaccines for non-immunization programs are given priority to recommend five types: pentavalent, 13-valent pneumonia, oral whorl, EV71 hand, foot and mouth, and HPV, which are the most cost-effective. ； Children with special physiques such as allergies and premature birth do not need to postpone vaccination across the board. Pre-vaccination assessments must be conducted in advance. The vast majority of children can be vaccinated normally.

Last week, I met a new mother in a community vaccination room. She was carrying a 42-day-old baby in her arms. She had a dozen vaccine popularization articles saved on her phone, but she was still unsure whether to give her baby the five-part vaccine. This should be the state of most parents when they are new to vaccines. Let’s explain the most basic logic first: Free immunization program vaccines are a national public health policy. The 12 types of vaccines cover 15 highly lethal and highly disabling infectious diseases such as hepatitis B, tuberculosis, polio, and diphtheria-tetanus pertussis. All vaccines must be vaccinated unless there are special circumstances. Don’t rely on the luck of “no need to vaccinate if no one is around.” The vaccination certificate is very strict when entering kindergarten, and re-vaccination will be troublesome.

As for whether self-funded vaccines are an "IQ tax", experts in different fields have different opinions: many scholars in the public health field believe that as long as ordinary families take all the free vaccines, they can already obtain sufficient basic protection, and there is no need to increase the financial burden.； Most clinical pediatricians will recommend giving priority to the five listed above. After all, these corresponding infectious diseases have a high rate of severe illness, and children under 5 years old are especially susceptible. The pentavalent vaccine can also replace the three separate vaccines of polio, diphtheria-tetanus pertussis and hib. It requires a total of 8 fewer injections. The children will suffer less and parents will have to travel less. The input-output ratio is indeed high. Of course, there is no need to pursue vaccines for niche, extremely low-incidence diseases, unless the child has special risks of exposure.

Speaking of this, some parents must be worried: My baby was born prematurely/is allergic to eggs and milk/has congenital heart disease. Will many vaccines not be available? The 2024 version of the guidelines has clearly relaxed the vaccination restrictions for children with special physiques: for example, egg allergy is no longer a contraindication for influenza vaccination, and those with no history of severe anaphylactic shock can be vaccinated. ； If a premature baby weighs 2.5kg and has normal development assessment, he or she can receive free vaccinations like a full-term baby. ； There is basically no need to postpone vaccination for children with underlying diseases who are stable after surgery for congenital heart disease and have no acute attacks. My best friend's baby was born prematurely at 32 weeks and weighed only 4 pounds at birth. She was always persuaded to give up by the community vaccination point. Later, she went to the city's maternal and child vaccination assessment clinic for a checkup. The development indicators were up to standard, and all vaccines were given on time. Now she is two and a half years old and has no problems. Of course, there are also some grassroots vaccination sites that have stricter vaccination requirements for children with special physiques in order to avoid risks. In this case, don’t be too tough. Take your child’s medical records and physical examination report to the vaccination assessment clinic of a regular hospital to get a vaccination recommendation. In most cases, vaccination can go smoothly.

Many people also ask, if they missed the vaccine due to illness, travel or other reasons, do they need to get vaccinated again? The new guidelines make it very clear: Except for some live oral vaccines that have strict age window periods, most vaccines only need to make up for missed doses, and there is no need to restart the entire process, even if it takes more than half a year. My child got pneumonia last fall and delayed the measles and mumps vaccine. The re-vaccination was postponed for 3 months. Later, the antibody titer was found to be fully up to standard, so there was no need to worry about the vaccination being in vain.

I have seen parents think that "if you take the vaccine, you will be 100% safe from the disease." Then when their child gets ordinary hand, foot and mouth disease, they come to criticize the vaccine as useless. This is actually a very common misunderstanding. For example, the EV71 hand, foot and mouth vaccine only protects against the EV71 virus, which accounts for more than 90% of severe cases, and has no protection against the other 20 or 30 common enteroviruses. However, even if you are infected with other types of enteroviruses after vaccination, the disease will basically be mild, and dangerous complications such as encephalitis and pulmonary edema will not occur. The protective effect is already in place.

In fact, there is really no one-size-fits-all perfect plan for vaccination. Each child’s situation is different, and the family situation is also different. There is no need to follow other people’s lists. If you really can't make up your mind, just ask the vaccination doctor or go to the vaccination evaluation clinic for consultation. It is much more reliable than searching for half-truths and half-false popular science on the Internet. Oh, by the way, many places have stocks of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines recently. Babies over 6 months old can make an appointment in advance. Don’t wait until winter comes and have to queue up, which will cause trouble for your children and adults.