Skip to main content

Can I space out my child’s vaccines?

Image
Common Questions-group of adolescents

Vaccinating your child on time is the best way to protect them against vaccine-preventable diseases.source: 1

  • Delaying or missing vaccines leaves children unprotected at ages when infectious diseases are particularly dangerous for them.source: 1 For example, Hib and pneumococcal disease are potentially life-threatening illnesses and children younger than 2 years old or children with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk.source: 2 If you delay vaccinating your child against these diseases until they are older, then you could be putting them at risk.
  • Staying on schedule prevents stress for you and your child. Fear of needles is common among children.source: 3,source: 4 When you space out vaccines, your child will need to go to the doctor more times to get all their vaccines. Extra trips to the doctor can lead to more: source: 5,source: 6
    • Stress for children
    • Time away from school and work
    • Medical costs

Getting more than one vaccine at once is safe. Scientists and doctors study the immune system and its response to vaccines. They also study what happens when you get more than one vaccine at once. Studies confirm this is a safe and healthy thing to do.source: 6,source: 7,source: 8

Key Evidence

  • On-time vaccinations save lives. When flu vaccinations are delayed and not given on time, children are at greater risk of dying from the flu. One study showed that a timely flu vaccine is shown to reduce a child’s risk of developing a life-threatening case of the flu by 75%.source: 9,source: 10
  • Sticking to the vaccine schedule gives your baby the best protection from preventable diseases. Babies’ immune systems can protect them from many germs.source: 11 But there are some germs that their immune systems do not yet know how to handle.source: 11 These germs can make babies very sick. Vaccines help babies’ immune systems learn faster without the risk of getting sick.source: 11
  • Medical and public health experts regularly review available evidence on all vaccines to make sure they are safe and effective. A group of vaccine experts, scientists, doctors, and public health professionals meet several times a year.source: 12 This group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), discusses disease threats to the population and reviews all available evidence about vaccine safety and effectiveness.source: 12 The group then makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to inform the vaccine schedule.source: 12
Image
Common Questions-parent hugs daughter

A Deeper Dive: How the Vaccine Schedule Gives the Best Protection

When your child follows the vaccination schedule, they get protection from more than a dozen potentially serious diseases at exactly the right time. The vaccination schedule:source: 1

  • Helps protect your child at ages before they are likely to be exposed to a disease
  • Supports your child’s immune system at each stage of life

Multiple vaccines at once is safe

Your child’s doctor may recommend multiple vaccines at once. This is safe, and it helps make sure your child gets the protection they need when they need it.source: 6 Scientists continue to study when different vaccines are given at the same time. Millions of children each year receive vaccines safely, many of them at the same time.source: 2

And when a child gets multiple vaccines at a single visit, the most common side effects are mild and go away quickly—just like when they get only one vaccine.source: 6,source: 13,source: 14

Did you know? Vaccines today have a very small number of antigens in them compared to the thousands of antigens children are exposed to every day.source: 11,source: 15 Antigens in vaccines are either a dead or weakened virus or bacteria, or a piece of virus or bacteria.source: 16 They help your child’s immune system recognize the virus or bacteria and how to protect itself against a disease. Kids are also exposed to antigens when they play on the floor, eat certain foods, inhale dust, and more.source: 11 There are also fewer antigens in today’s vaccines than the ones given many years ago, thanks to modern science.source: 11

Vaccines need time to work

Vaccines need time to build immunity. This often takes weeks. And some require more than one dose.source: 1 They are like training exercises for our immune system. Waiting until just before you think your child will be exposed to a disease—like when they start daycare or camp—puts them at risk. In addition, waiting until your child is exposed leaves too little time for the vaccine to work to give them the protection they need.source: 1

Experts agree

Medical experts recommend that children get vaccinations on time. They also agree that getting multiple vaccines at one time is safe.source: 6,source: 14 In addition, leading health organizations do not recommend spacing out vaccines. All these groups recommend following the vaccine schedule:source: 6

Back to the common questions

More information

Still have questions? Talk to your child’s doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.

Sources

  1. CDC: Reasons to Follow CDC’s Immunization Schedule
  2. CDC: About Vaccines for your Children
  3. PubMed: ‘I Would Rather Be Having My Leg Cut off Than a Little Needle’: A Supplementary Qualitative Analysis of Dentally Anxious Children’s Experiences of Needle Fear
  4. CDC: Easy to Read: Needle Phobia
  5. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia: Vaccine Schedule: Altering the Schedule
  6. CDC: Multiple Vaccines at Once
  7. National Library of Medicine: The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholder Concerns, Scientific Evidence, and Future Studies
  8. JAMA: Association Between Estimated Cumulative Vaccine Antigen Exposure Through the First 23 Months of Life and Non–Vaccine-Targeted Infections From 24 Through 47 Months of Age
  9. Clinical Infectious Diseases: Vaccine Effectiveness Against Life-Threatening Influenza Illness in US Children
  10. CDC: Seasonal Flu Vaccine Basics
  11. CDC: About Vaccines for your Children
  12. CDC: Who Sets the Immunization Schedule?
  13. Immunize.org: Ask the Experts: Vaccine Safety
  14. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): Multiple Vaccinations at One Time
  15. AAP: All About the Recommended Immunization Schedules
  16. CDC: Explaining How Vaccines Work
Back to top
Content last reviewed on

Disclaimer Policy: Links with this icon () mean that you are leaving the HHS website.