Immunisation is a way of protecting against serious diseases. Once we’ve been immunised, our bodies are better able to fight these diseases if we come into contact with them.
It’s important that your baby has their immunisations at the right age – the first ones are offered at 8 weeks old. They’ll be offered further doses of these immunisations when they’re 12 weeks and 16 weeks old.
Other immunisations are offered:
Childhood immunisation schedule
Diseases can be particularly serious in young babies. It’s important to make sure babies are protected as early as possible to prevent them from catching these diseases.
Most immunisations have to be given more than once to prepare your child’s immunity. For example, 3 doses of DTaP/IPV/Hib/HepB vaccine are needed to provide protection in babies. Booster doses are then offered later in life to provide longer-term protection.
In the UK, these diseases are kept at bay by high immunisation rates. Around the world, over 2 million deaths are avoided each year by immunisation.
As more people travel abroad and come to visit this country, there’s a risk that they’ll bring these diseases into the UK. The diseases may spread to people who haven’t been immunised, so your baby is at greater risk if they haven’t been immunised.
Immunisation doesn’t just protect your child, it also helps to protect your family and the whole community, especially those children who, for medical reasons, can’t be immunised.
Premature babies may be at greater risk of infection. They should be immunised according to the recommended schedule from 2 months after birth, regardless of how premature they were.
In the UK, parents can decide whether or not to have their children immunised. Vaccination is recommended because it gives your baby protection against serious diseases, most of which can kill.
Around the world, many children are now routinely protected with vaccines. Because of this, some of the world’s most serious diseases may soon disappear.
There are very few reasons why babies can’t be immunised. The vaccines shouldn’t be given to babies who have had:
In general, children who are immunosuppressed shouldn’t receive live vaccines such as MMR and BCG. Children who are immunosuppressed include those:
If this applies to your child, you must tell your GP, practice nurse or health visitor before the immunisation. They’ll need to get specialist advice on using live vaccines – such as MMR and BCG. There are no other reasons why vaccines should definitely not be given.
There’s no other proven, effective way to immunise your child.
The Faculty of Homeopathy – the registered organisation for doctors qualified in homeopathy – follows the Department of Health guidelines. They advise parents to have their children immunised with standard vaccines, unless there are medical reasons they should not be.
Immunisation programmes are regularly reviewed to make sure that all children are offered the best protection against preventable diseases. As new vaccines become available, or research shows that giving existing vaccines at different times improves protection, the programme will be changed.
Recent changes to the UK programme have been:
Public Health Scotland is a proud member of the Vaccine Safety Net and partners with NHS inform to provide reliable information on vaccine safety.
The Vaccine Safety Net is a global network of websites, evaluated by the World Health Organization, that provides reliable information on vaccine safety.
More about the Vaccine Safety Net
Last updated:
17 May 2023