Childhood vaccinations

Vaccines are the best way to prevent many illnesses to protect us and our children. Vaccines teach your body how to fight off illnesses. It is much safer for your body to learn this from a vaccine than by catching the illness.

Vaccines prevent up to 3 million deaths worldwide every year. Since vaccines were introduced in the UK, illnesses like smallpox, polio, measles, flu and tetanus are either gone or significantly lowered. These illnesses used to affect hundreds of thousands of people, making them seriously ill, disabled or even leading to death.  

Having a vaccine also helps your whole community. If enough people are vaccinated, it is harder for the illness to spread to people who cannot have vaccines including people who are ill or have a weakened immune system. Vaccines are tested for safety through research studies before they are offered to people. Even after people start using them, vaccines continue to be checked for safety.

Getting the basics for good health right during pregnancy and early childhood is very important. It helps every child have the best start in life. Here we will look at vaccines offered to pregnant people, young children and teenagers in the UK. It uses the NHS vaccine schedule, which has recently been updated.