CHILD VACCINATIONS
Baby vaccination schedule (India, NIS)
The complete National Immunization Schedule for children in India, from birth to sixteen years — every dose the Government of India's Universal Immunization Programme covers, grouped by the age at which it is due. 28 doses in total.
What is the National Immunization Schedule?
The NIS is the vaccination schedule the Government of India's Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) offers free at every government hospital, primary health centre and Anganwadi. It covers the vaccines a child needs from birth through school entry — and, for a few, into adolescence. Private paediatricians in India typically follow the same schedule and sometimes add optional vaccines beyond it (chickenpox, hepatitis A, influenza, HPV) that UIP does not currently cover.
The schedule, dose by dose
Each row is one age at which vaccines are due. The doses listed under it are given together at that visit.
At birth
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| BCG | Birth dose | Tuberculosis Given at birth, or as early as possible up to one year. |
| Hepatitis B | Birth dose | Hepatitis B Within 24 hours of birth. |
| Oral Polio Vaccine | Zero dose | Polio Within 15 days of birth. |
6 weeks
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Oral Polio Vaccine | 1st dose | Polio |
| Pentavalent | 1st dose | Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, Hib |
| Rotavirus | 1st dose | Rotavirus diarrhoea |
| Fractional IPV | 1st dose | Polio Given intradermally. |
| Pneumococcal (PCV) | 1st dose | Pneumonia, meningitis |
10 weeks
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Oral Polio Vaccine | 2nd dose | Polio |
| Pentavalent | 2nd dose | Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, Hib |
| Rotavirus | 2nd dose | Rotavirus diarrhoea |
14 weeks
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Oral Polio Vaccine | 3rd dose | Polio |
| Pentavalent | 3rd dose | Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B, Hib |
| Rotavirus | 3rd dose | Rotavirus diarrhoea |
| Fractional IPV | 2nd dose | Polio Given intradermally. |
| Pneumococcal (PCV) | 2nd dose | Pneumonia, meningitis |
9 months
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Measles-Rubella | 1st dose | Measles, Rubella Between 9 and 12 months. |
| Japanese Encephalitisoptional | 1st dose | Japanese encephalitis Endemic districts only — ask your centre. |
| Pneumococcal booster | Booster | Pneumonia, meningitis |
| Vitamin A | 1st dose | Vitamin A deficiency A supplement given on the immunisation card, not a vaccine. |
1.3 years
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Measles-Rubella | 2nd dose | Measles, Rubella Between 16 and 24 months. |
| Japanese Encephalitisoptional | 2nd dose | Japanese encephalitis Endemic districts only. |
| DPT booster | 1st booster | Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus |
| Oral Polio Vaccine | Booster | Polio |
| Vitamin A | 2nd dose | Vitamin A deficiency Then every six months to five years. |
5 years
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| DPT booster | 2nd booster | Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus Between 5 and 6 years. |
10 years
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Td | 10 years | Tetanus, Diphtheria |
16 years
| Vaccine | Dose | Protects against |
|---|---|---|
| Td | 16 years | Tetanus, Diphtheria |
What if we've missed a dose
Most doses on the NIS have a window rather than a single day — a dose given late is still a dose given, and catch-up schedules exist for children who missed the early rounds. The specific catch-up plan for your child is a paediatrician's call, not a general rule; the schedule above is what a child on-schedule looks like.
NIS vs private paediatric schedules
The NIS above is the free, government-run schedule. Some private paediatricians follow the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) schedule, which includes the NIS vaccines plus several optional ones — most commonly hepatitis A, chickenpox (varicella), typhoid, influenza and HPV. Both schedules protect against the same core diseases; the IAP schedule adds coverage for a few more conditions at extra cost.
Where the vaccines are given
All NIS vaccines are available free at government hospitals, district hospitals, community health centres, primary health centres and sub-centres. Anganwadi centres run vaccination sessions on fixed days each week. Private paediatric clinics offer the same schedule (often with the optional additions) at their own charge.
Schedule from the National Immunization Schedule (NIS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. This is the publicly-published schedule, not medical advice for any specific child — your paediatrician knows what applies to yours.
The NIS above is the publicly-published national schedule, not medical advice for any specific child. What applies to yours — a missed dose, a catch-up plan, an optional vaccine, a contraindication — is your paediatrician's call, not a webpage's.