Newborn Baby Immunization Schedule/Vaccination Chart

What is a Vaccine?

Prepared from a live or dead virus, a vaccine is a medicine that creates the necessary antibodies inside a baby’s body and improves his/her immunity. This helps the baby fight against various ailments which the baby would have otherwise succumbed to.

Paediatricians and other experts from different medical fields conducted extensive research to come up with a vaccination chart for babies, and they decided on the right age for babies to receive such vaccines and grow healthily.

What is the Universal Immunisation Schedule?

The Universal Immunisation Schedule is a program that decided the vaccination chart for babies in India, based on the Expanded Immunisation Program of the WHO. Although this program was established in 1985, it became a part of the Rural Health Mission in 2005 only.

The primary objective of this program was to introduce vaccines for babies and expecting mothers to reduce infant mortality under 5 years of age and death of mothers after delivery.

The Universal Immunisation Schedule has designed the vaccination chart for babies, with details like the list of ailments that can be prevented, the dosages of the vaccines, etc., to help new parents in rural and urban areas.

Mandatory Vaccines and their Frequencies for Babies in India

The vaccination chart for babies in India is as follows —

What are the side effects of vaccines?

All these vaccines have been designed after careful research and experiments. The age at which these vaccines need to be administered to babies has also been arrived upon after careful consideration. Hence, parents can rest assured that these vaccines do not pose any serious risks to babies.

However, some vaccines may cause slight pain/swelling in the area of administration. Babies may develop a sore throat or mild fever after being administered a few of the vaccines listed above. These are the only known side effects of these vaccines thus far.

How to manage the side effects of vaccines?

When you notice a swelling in your baby’s body where the vaccine was administered, you can provide a warm or cold compress to help the baby deal with the pain. For mild fevers, you can give oral medicines, after consulting your doctor. Usually, these side effects go away within 2 days; hence, there is nothing to worry about.

Where to get vaccines in India?

All the vaccines mentioned above are available in almost all government and private clinics across the country. Rural, government-based health centres may give these vaccines for free or at subsidised rates.

Cost of vaccines for children in India

The cost of the vaccines for children in India will depend on the type of vaccine you want, and where you want to purchase it from. The vaccination chart for babies in India with price is as follows:

• OPV (Oral polio vaccine) – free in most government centres, but around INR 250 per dose elsewhere

• DTwP Vaccines – INR 15-100 per dose

• BCG Vaccine – INR 100-1000

• Hepatitis B Vaccines – INR 55-6000 (huge fluctuation based on where you get it from and the brand of vaccine)

• HIB Influenza vaccine – INR 110-250 per dose

• RVV Rotavirus Diarrhoea Vaccine – INR 600-1500 per dose

• PCV Pneumococcal Infections Vaccine – INR 1500-4000 per dose

• IPV Inactivated Polio Vaccine – INR 400-500 per dose

• MMR Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine — INR 150-600 per dose

• TCV Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine – INR 150-500