Recommended Vaccinations for Infants and Children, Parent-Friendly Version

Birth through 6 Years, United States, 2023

Vaccine recommendations have been updated. The content on this page is not current and will be updated to align with the new recommendations published in the 2024 Immunization Schedules:

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Additional Information

If your child misses a shot recommended for their age, talk to your child’s doctor as soon as possible to see when the missed shot can be given.
If your child has any medical conditions that put them at risk for infection (e.g., sickle cell, HIV infection, cochlear implants) or is traveling outside the United States, talk to your child’s doctor about additional vaccines that they may need.

Talk with your child’s doctor if you have questions about any shot recommended for your child.

2023 Recommended Immunizations for Children from Birth Through 6 Years Old
Vaccine	Birth Birth	1 Month	2 Months	4 Months	6 Months	12 Months	15 Months	18 Months	4-6 Years
HepB Hepatitis B	HepB	HepB			HepB
RV^* Rotavirus			RV	RV	RV^*
DTaP Diphtheria, Pertussis, & Tetanus			DTaP	DTaP	DTaP		DTaP		DTaP
Hib^* Haemophilus influenzae type b			Hib	Hib	Hib^*	Hib
PCV13, PCV15 Pneumococcal disease			PCV	PCV	PCV	PCV
IPV Polio			IPV	IPV	IPV				IPV
COVID-19^** Coronavirus disease 2019					COVID-19^**
Flu^† Influenza					Flu (One or Two Doses Yearly)^†
MMR Measles, Mumps, & Rubella						MMR			MMR
Varicella Chickenpox						Varicella			Varicella
HepA^‡ Hepatitis A						HepA^‡		HepA^‡

Footnotes

Key and Footnotes – This table is for layout.
RV^* Hib^* Administering a third dose at age 6 months depends on the brand of Hib or rotavirus vaccine used for previous dose	COVID-19^** Number of doses recommended depends on your child’s age and type of COVID-19 vaccine used.	Flu^† Two doses given at least 4 weeks apart are recommended for children age 6 months through 8 years of age who are getting an influenza (flu) vaccine for the first time and for some other children in this age group.	HepA^‡ Two doses of Hep A vaccine are needed for lasting protection. The 2 doses should be given between age 12 and 23 months. Both doses should be separated by at least 6 months. Children 2 years and older who have not received 2 doses of Hep A should complete the series.

Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and the Vaccines that Prevent Them

child vaccine preventable disease easy read
Disease	Vaccine	Disease spread by	Disease symptoms	Disease complications
Hepatitis B	HepB vaccine protects against hepatitis B.	Contact with blood or body fluids	May be no symptoms, fever, headache, weakness, vomiting, jaundice (yellowing of skin and eyes), joint pain	Chronic liver infection, liver failure, liver cancer, death
Rotavirus	RV vaccine protects against rotavirus.	Through the mouth	Diarrhea, fever, vomiting	Severe diarrhea, dehydration, death
Diphtheria	DTaP* vaccine protects against diphtheria.	Air, direct contact	Sore throat, mild fever, weakness, swollen glands in neck	Swelling of the heart muscle, heart failure, coma, paralysis, death
Pertussis (whooping cough)	DTaP* vaccine protects against pertussis (whooping cough).	Air, direct contact	Severe cough, runny nose, apnea (a pause in breathing in infants)	Pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death
Tetanus	DTaP* vaccine protects against tetanus.	Exposure through cuts in skin	Stiffness in neck and abdominal muscles, difficulty swallowing, muscle spasms, fever	Broken bones, breathing difficulty, death
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)	Hib vaccine protects against Haemophilus influenzae type b.	Air, direct contact	May be no symptoms unless bacteria enter the blood	Meningitis (infection of the covering around the brain and spinal cord), intellectual disability, epiglottitis (life-threatening infection that can block the windpipe and lead to serious breathing problems), pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death
Pneumococcal disease (PCV13, PCV15)	PCV vaccine protects against pneumococcal disease.	Air, direct contact	May be no symptoms, pneumonia (infection in the lungs)	Bacteremia (blood infection), meningitis (infection of the covering around the brain and spinal cord), death
Polio	IPV vaccine protects against polio.	Air, direct contact, through the mouth	May be no symptoms, sore throat, fever, nausea, headache	Paralysis, death
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)	COVID-19 vaccine protects against severe complications from coronavirus disease 2019.	Air, direct contact	May be no symptoms, fever, muscle aches, sore throat, cough, runny nose, diarrhea, vomiting, new loss of taste or smell	Pneumonia (infection in the lungs), respiratory failure, blood clots, bleeding disorder, injury to liver, heart or kidney, multi-system inflammatory syndrome, post-COVID syndrome, death
Influenza (Flu)	Flu vaccine protects against influenza.	Air, direct contact	Fever, muscle pain, sore throat, cough, extreme fatigue	Pneumonia (infection in the lungs), bronchitis, sinus infections, ear infections, death
Measles	MMR** vaccine protects against measles.	Air, direct contact	Rash, fever, cough, runny nose, pink eye	Encephalitis (brain swelling), pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death
Mumps	MMR** vaccine protects against mumps.	Air, direct contact	Swollen salivary glands (under the jaw), fever, headache, tiredness, muscle pain	Meningitis (infection of the covering around the brain and spinal cord), encephalitis (brain swelling), inflammation of testicles or ovaries, deafness, death
Rubella	MMR** vaccine protects against rubella.	Air, direct contact, through the mouth	Sometimes rash, fever, swollen lymph nodes	Very serious in pregnant women—can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, birth defects
Chickenpox	Varicella vaccine protects against chickenpox.	Air, direct contact	Rash, tiredness, headache, fever	Infected blisters, bleeding disorders, encephalitis (brain swelling), pneumonia (infection in the lungs), death
Hepatitis A	HepA vaccine protects against hepatitis A.	Direct contact, contaminated food or water	May be no symptoms, fever, stomach pain, loss of appetite, fatigue, vomiting, jaundice (yellowing of skin and eyes), dark urine	Liver failure, arthralgia (joint pain), kidney, pancreatic and blood disorders, death

Footnotes – This table is for layout.
DTaP*	DTaP combines protection against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.	MMR**	MMR combines protection against measles, mumps, and rubella.

This schedule is recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).