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Vaccination Chart for Babies in India

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Published on July 04, 2023. EST READ TIME: 3 minutes

In today's rapidly evolving world, the significance of vaccinating children to protect their health and well-being cannot be overstated. Over the decades, vaccines have played a pivotal role to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, saving countless young lives, and empowering communities to thrive. The immunisation of children is a critical component of public health efforts, as it not only shields them from potentially life-threatening illnesses but also contributes to the overall health and resilience of the entire population. Let’s delve into the importance of vaccines, their mechanism of action, the vaccination landscape for children, the vaccination age chart and general precautions to consider before administering the shots. Also, let’s study how comprehensive health insurance plans and children’s health insurance can come to your aid when a medical emergency strikes.

Vaccines & their importance

Curious to know how vaccines safeguard public health and contain the spread of infectious diseases? Well, by receiving vaccinations, we can reduce the risk of developing severe complications, hospitalisation, or even death. Vaccines help prevent the occurrence and spread of dangerous infections, such as measles, polio, influenza, hepatitis, and many others and thus creating a tremendous impact on global health. Vaccines can control and eradicate infectious diseases, reduce their impact on individuals and communities, and contribute to herd immunity. This helps protect vulnerable individuals who cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions or those for whom vaccines may be less effective, such as newborns or individuals with weakened immune systems. Lastly, by preventing illness, vaccines help save both lives and money.

How do vaccines work?

It’s fascinating how vaccines work by introducing weakened or inactivated forms of pathogens or parts of pathogens into our bodies. These components resemble the antigens of the disease-causing agents. When we receive a vaccine, our immune system recognises these antigens as foreign invaders and launches an immune response. This response involves various types of immune cells, including white blood cells, which are the defenders of our immune system. The immune response helps our body learn and remember how to fight against specific pathogens. It produces special proteins called antibodies that can recognise and neutralise those pathogens if encountered in the future. This process builds immunity, which means that if we come into contact with the actual disease-causing pathogen, our immune system can quickly recognise and eliminate it, preventing us from falling ill or lowering the severity of the disease/infection.

Simply put, vaccines act as a prep program for our immune system. They teach our bodies how to recognise and fight off harmful germs. This way, if we ever encounter real germs, our immune system already knows how to defend us, keeping us healthy.

Vaccination in India

Talking about the vaccination scenario in India, we still have a long way to go. Despite widespread awareness, government initiatives, subsidisation and provision of free vaccines, here are some alarming facts:

• As per statistics, India loses nearly one million children every year before their 5th birthday.

• As per UNICEF, only 65% of children receive full vaccination during their first year of life.

 

• According to WHO, nearly 25 million children do not receive complete schedules of vaccines, and the number keeps increasing every year.

• Pneumonia or diarrhoea are the two leading causes of death in children, with one out of every 4 deaths being due to these two diseases.

As per the vaccination chart, it is important to take vaccines at the right time to ensure they work effectively.

National Immunisation Schedule (Chart)

The vaccination age chart is as below:

NAME OF VACCINE	WHEN TO GIVE
Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG)	At birth
Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) – 0	At birth
Hepatitis B - Birth dose	At birth or as early as possible within 24 hours
OPV 1, 2 & 3	At 6 weeks, 10 weeks & 14 weeks (Can be taken till the child is 5 years old)
Pentavalent 1, 2 & 3	At 6 weeks, 10 weeks & 14 weeks (can be given till the child is 1 year old)
Rotavirus#	At 6 weeks, 10 weeks & 14 weeks (can be given till one year of age)
Measles & Rubella (MR) - 1	9-12 months
Japanese Encephalitis (JE- 1**)	9-12 months
Vitamin A (1st dose)	At 9 completed months, with measles, Rubella
DPT booster-1	16-24 months
Measles/ MR 2nd dose $	16-24 months
OPV Booster	16-24 months
Japanese Encephalitis (JE- 2)	16-24 months
Vitamin A*** (2nd to 9th dose)	16-18 months. Then one dose every 6 months up to the age of 5 years.
DPT Booster-2	5-6 years
TT	10 years & 16 years

**JE Vaccine in select endemic places.

*** The 2nd to 9th doses of Vitamin A can be administered to children between the ages of 1 to 5 during biannual rounds in collaboration with ICDS.

#Phased introduction, at present in Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Orissa from 2016 & expanded in Assam, Madhya Pradesh, and Tripura in February 2017.

$ Phased introduction, at present, in five states, namely Goa, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

General precautions to take before getting vaccinated

1. Take your baby’s vaccination chart and get it filled out by the doctor after every vaccination. This will ensure you don’t miss any vaccines and also help the doctor in treating the child in case the baby falls ill.

2. Ensure your baby is wearing comfortable, loose-fitting clothes to allow the body to move freely during vaccination. Loose clothes will also prevent the injection site from getting rubbed against the fabric.

3. If your baby has had any allergy or other issues in the past vaccination, let your doctor know about it.

4. There may be redness or pain at the injection site, which is normal.

5. After administering the vaccine, you may be asked to wait for about 30 minutes for monitoring.

6. Contact your doctor immediately if, after vaccination, the baby has a high fever or convulsions, cries continuously for more than 3 hours or becomes unresponsive.

7. Don’t skip any compulsory vaccination, as it can cause significant health risks.

8. If your baby is sick at the scheduled vaccination, check with your doctor about the next possible time to take the vaccine.

9. Don’t give any medication to your baby before the scheduled vaccination without consulting your doctor. Some medicines may interfere with the vaccine’s efficacy.

10. Don’t get your baby vaccinated by unlicensed doctors, as they may not have the necessary training and experience to administer the vaccine safely. This can harm your baby.

11. If you have any questions relating to the procedure, side effects, and precautions, do not hesitate to ask your doctor. This will help you stay prepared to handle any emergencies.

Conclusion

Vaccinations are given at different stages of life, and it is crucial to follow the vaccination chart to protect ourselves from infections and diseases. Skipping vaccination can put your life and others’ lives around you at risk. Keep your baby’s vaccination age chart up-to-date and handy to avoid missing any shots. In addition to immunisation, make sure your baby is financially protected by children’s health insurance or family health insurance plans in case of any medical crisis.

Disclaimer : The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales

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