Child immunisation schedule for India

There is no national law in India that makes an immunisation record compulsory for school admission, and no such rule could be verified on an official MoHFW/NHM source. In practice, however, many schools, playgroups and creches - and some state and municipal authorities - do ask for a copy of the child's immunisation record as part of the admission file. Keep the MCP card safe, and if you need a clean printed copy, download the QR-based e-Vaccination Certificate from the U-WIN portal or app. Admission should not be refused to an under-immunised child under the Right to Education Act; the right response is to complete the missed doses, not to stay away from school.

Yes. The MoHFW Immunization Handbook is explicit: 'Mild fever, diarrhoea, and cough are not contraindications for immunization.' A child with a runny nose, mild cough, mild fever, mild diarrhoea or mild malnutrition should still be vaccinated - sending the child away means a missed dose, and the vaccine works just as well. Vaccination is postponed only if the child is seriously ill and needs hospital care, or has a high fever; and it is not given if the child had anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction) or another serious adverse event after a previous dose of that same vaccine. Tell the health worker about any past reaction.

No. Every vaccine in the National Immunization Schedule is free at government health facilities - Anganwadi Centres, sub-centres / Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, PHCs, CHCs, district hospitals, urban dispensaries and government medical college hospitals. The syringes, the MCP card and related medicines are also free. Nobody should charge you for a UIP vaccine at a government facility.

No. The schedule is never restarted. The handbook instruction is: 'Do not start the schedule all over again even if the child is brought late for a dose. Pick up where the schedule was left off.' Take the child to the next session as soon as you can and the remaining doses continue from where you stopped. Do keep in mind the upper age limits: Pentavalent, Rotavirus and fIPV are not started after 12 months of age, bOPV and MR can be given up to 5 years, and DPT up to 7 years.

Yes, and it is normal. At 6 weeks, for example, a baby routinely receives bOPV, Pentavalent, Rotavirus, fIPV and PCV in the same session. Injections are given at different sites - the National Immunization Schedule deliberately assigns Pentavalent to the left thigh, PCV to the right thigh, MR to the right upper arm and fIPV-3 to the left upper arm - so that any reaction can be traced to the right vaccine. Giving them together does not overload the baby's immune system and does not reduce how well any of them works.

Mild fever, mild pain, redness or a small swelling at the injection site are common and settle in a day or two. BCG normally produces a small swelling at the site that becomes a tiny ulcer and heals into a scar over some weeks - this is expected, not an infection. You should wait at the session site for half an hour after vaccination so that any immediate reaction can be treated on the spot, and keep breastfeeding as usual. Contact the health worker or a doctor if there is high fever, persistent crying, a fit/convulsion, a large swelling, difficulty breathing, or any reaction that worries you.

Yes. The Hepatitis B birth dose has to be given within 24 hours of birth - that is what prevents mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B, which the later Pentavalent doses cannot do once infection has already happened. If the baby is born at home or at a facility where it was missed, and more than 24 hours have passed, the birth dose is not given late; the baby is then protected by the Hepatitis B contained in Pentavalent at 6, 10 and 14 weeks.

No. JE vaccine is part of the National Immunization Schedule only in selected JE-endemic districts, not across the whole country. Where it is given, JE-1 is at 9-12 completed months along with MR-1 and JE-2 at 16-24 months. Ask your ANM whether your district is a JE district.

No. Vitamin A is a supplement given by mouth as part of the same schedule because it prevents night blindness and reduces deaths from measles and diarrhoea. The first dose (1 ml / 1 lakh IU) is given at 9 months with the MR vaccine; from 16 months a 2 ml (2 lakh IU) dose is given every 6 months up to 5 years of age - that is 9 doses in all.

Through U-WIN, the government's national immunisation platform. Register on https://uwin.mohfw.gov.in/ or the official 'U-WIN Citizen' app with your mobile number and OTP, add the child as a beneficiary, and download the QR-based e-Vaccination Certificate. U-WIN also sends SMS reminders for upcoming doses and lets you find a vaccination centre by district or PIN code and book an appointment. The physical MCP card remains the primary record - keep both.