Childhood and adolescent vaccines

Routine childhood immunisation

Vaccines are routinely offered to every child in the UK for free on the NHS. If you’re not sure whether your child has had all their routine vaccinations, ask your GP or practice nurse to find out for you. Parents who are not registered with a doctor should contact their health visitor or school nurse for more information.

Vaccines for children

The routine childhood immunisation schedule offered to all infants includes vaccinations against: diphtheria, pertussis, polio, tetanus, Haemophilus influenza type b, meningitis C, meningitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and pneumococcal infection.

Why are these immunisations so important? Principally because of the potentially serious consequences of developing these diseases and the fact that they are all very infections, so if one person gets the disease they are very likely to pass it on to others, and because unless we keep immunisation levels at a sufficiently high level they will become common again

It is important to make sure that your child has all of their routine vaccinations. Your child should have their jabs at the right age to protect them as early as possible and minimise the risk of infection.

Childhood vaccinations are offered free on the NHS to all children. The first injections are due when your baby is two months old. Find out here which vaccinations your child needs and when they need them using the NHS vaccination timetable.

Targeted immunisation programmes for children

Babies born to mothers found to be infected with hepatitis B need to be given a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of their birth, followed by further doses at 1, 2 and 12 months old. All babies born to mothers infected with hepatitis B should be tested at 12 months old to check if they have become infected with the virus.

School flu vaccine programme

In the autumn/winter, the nasal spray flu vaccine will be available free on the NHS for eligible children, including:

• children aged 2 and 3
• all primary school children
• children aged 2 to 17 with long-term health conditions

The flu vaccine for children is given as a single dose of nasal spray squirted up each nostril. Not only is it needle-free (a big advantage for children), the nasal spray works even better than the injected flu vaccine.

Vaccines for teenagers

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, also known as cervical cancer vaccination, girls and boys aged 12 to 13 years are routinely offered the 1st HPV vaccination when they're in school Year 8. The 2nd dose is offered 6 to 24 months after the 1st dose.

The school leaver’s booster (to protect against polio) is delivered as a single vaccination to year 10 boys and girls.

Young teenagers, sixth formers and fresher students going to university for the first time are advised to have a vaccination to prevent meningitis. The Men ACWY vaccine is given by a single injection and protects against four different causes of meningitis and septicaemia - meningococcal (Men) A, C, W and Y diseases.

School leavers and other young adults need to be fully vaccinated against mumps before they start college. Teenagers and adults in their early 20s are at higher risk of mumps. See further details on the mumps vaccine for teenagers.