What to do if you missed your child’s vaccination?

What to do if you missed your child’s vaccination?

 You have the power to keep your child healthy !

The coronavirus pandemic disrupted everybody’ life in many ways leading to the missed vaccination dose.

Many children missed check ups and recommended vaccination schedule during past few years.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Indian Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend children catch up on routine vaccinations and get back on the track of their school, childcare and beyond.

Experts suggests ‘catch-up vaccination’ for children to bring back vaccination routine for children.

What is catch-up vaccination?

When the vaccine is administered after its recommended time, it is called as catch-up vaccination.

It is given to the people who:

• has not been vaccinated
• has missed the vaccination dose
• has not completed the vaccination series

People are now keener to catch-up their missed dose of vaccination, as the pandemic has made them realize the importance of vaccination.

It is important for the children to get vaccinated as per the schedule to maintain the immunity of the children against vaccine preventable diseases like pneumonia, measles, chicken pox, diphtheria, tetanus, mumps, pertussis, rubella and hepatitis.

Parents needs to restart child vaccination schedule:

Doctors are recommending parents to restart with their schedule of vaccination to prevent them against diseases.

The catch-up vaccination provides optimal protection against diseases as quickly as possible by completing a vaccination schedule of the children in the shortest and most effective manner.

Vaccination prevents children from the diseases for the entire life so even if the children missed any, it can still be given.

As such there is no time for catch-up vaccination, you can restart any time you want.

Multiple vaccines can be administered in the same session without any fear of any adverse side effects.

The shortest acceptable interval between the two doses of same vaccine can be opted.

When the dose of vaccine is missed, booster doses may be given at the next opportunity available.

People who are not comfortable visiting the hospital can avail home vaccination services available or parents can take prior appointments for vaccination to reduce waiting time in the hospital.

By catch-up vaccination process, we can accelerate the vaccination process for children and protect them against vaccine preventable diseases.

Making sure that your child sees their doctor for well-child visits and recommended vaccines is one of the best things one can do to protect your child and your community against serious diseases that can easily spread.

IAP recommended vaccination chart for routine use

Conclusion:

Every parent aims to safeguard their child’s health and wellbeing. Sticking to the vaccination schedule is of utmost importance. One should try to avoid delayed vaccination.

But if there is unavoidable circumstances that delays your child’s immunization, then you should immediately contact your health care provider at the earliest and get the next appointment for the missed vaccine.

In case of any doubt pertaining to flu vaccination, ask your health care provider or get in touch with the vaccination team by booking your free consultation at INVC. (www.invc.co.in)

Sources:

www.cdc.gov

www.iapindia.org

www.indianpediatrics.net