What Vaccines do Babies Need and When?
Infants are born with temporary immunity that was passed along to them from their mother prior to birth. After birth, a breastfed infant may continue to receive antibodies from the mother. But these sources are short-term and provide a limited scope of protection against serious diseases. Therefore, your infant needs to be immunized against serious diseases early in life.
Vaccines that are given early in an infant’s life are started based on the best time for their immune system to respond and timing to protect them when they are at the highest risk of getting the disease. Your child will need to receive additional doses of many of these vaccines at other times to achieve good levels of immunity. This vaccine schedule of initial doses is recommended by pediatric doctors and other medical professionals. Your child will need to receive the full schedule of each vaccine to be protected.
Vaccines to be given at birth:
- Hepatitis B
- Possibly respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), depending on the time of year and mother’s immunization status
Vaccines to be given at 2 months:
- Rotavirus
- Diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis
- H flu type B (Hib)
- Pneumococcal
- Polio
Vaccines to be given at 6 months:
- COVID-19
- Influenza
Vaccines to be given at 12 months:
- Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)
- Varicella (chicken pox)
- Hepatitis A
To reduce the number of injections, some individual vaccines are given as a combination shot. Your doctor may also recommend additional vaccines for other special situations, if necessary. Be sure to keep to the recommended schedule to achieve the best protection for your child against serious diseases.