Immunization in the United States: Recommendations, Barriers, and Measures to Improve Compliance: Part 1: Childhood Vaccinations

Abstract

Childhood vaccination is one of the most effective public health strategies to control and prevent disease, but some parents decline or delay vaccinating their children. A variety of measures have been suggested to overcome vaccine noncompliance.

Figure 1

Recommended Immunization Schedule for Persons Ages 0 Through 18 Years^a These recommendations should be read with the footnotes (omitted here for space), which are available at http://tinyurl.com/ACIP2016. For those who fall behind or start late, provide catch-up vaccination at the earliest opportunity as indicated by the green bars. A catch-up schedule (available at the same URL) provides minimum intervals between doses. School-entry and adolescent vaccine age groups are shaded. ACIP F = Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices footnote (available at http://tinyurl.com/ACIP2016); B = booster; D = dose; IIV = inactivated influenza vaccine; LAIV = live, attenuated influenza vaccine; mo = months; yrs = years. ^a This schedule includes recommendations in effect as of January 1, 2016. Any dose not administered at the recommended age should be administered at a subsequent visit, when indicated and feasible. The use of a combination vaccine generally is preferred over separate injections of its equivalent component vaccines. Vaccination providers should consult the relevant ACIP statement for detailed recommendations, available online at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/index.html. ^b The number of doses needed in this series varies depending on the brand of vaccine used; see full footnotes for details. The above recommendations must be read along with the footnotes of this schedule (omitted here for space reasons), which are available at http://tinyurl.com/ACIP2016. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention