As a parent, you may not like seeing your baby or child being given an injection, but vaccination will help protect them against a range of serious and potentially fatal diseases.
There are 3 good reasons to have your child vaccinated:
- Vaccinations are quick, safe and extremely effective
- Once your child has been vaccinated against a disease, their body can fight it off better
- If a child is not vaccinated, they're at higher risk of catching and becoming very ill from the illness
There will always be some children who are unprotected because:
- They cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons
- They’re too young to be vaccinated
- The vaccine does not work (although this is rare)
But if more parents have their children vaccinated, more children in the community will be protected against an illness, such as a measles outbreak.
Click here for the routine immunisation schedule
If you do not vaccinate your children then they are at risk.
BCG Vaccination
BCG vaccine is given to those babies who are likely to come into contact with someone with tuberculosis (TB). This includes babies who live in an area with high rates of TB or babies with parents or grandparents from a country with high rates of TB.
Has your baby received BCG vaccine?
If your baby has not received the BCG vaccination then please contact VACCINATION UK for more information and to arrange an appointment.
Weekly clinics are being held however appointments need to be made to ensure social distancing measures are being adhered to.
Shingles Vaccination
It's recommended for people at higher risk from shingles, including all adults turning 65, those aged 70 to 79 and those aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system. If you are over 70 years of age and have not had shingles vaccine before you remain eligible up to your 80th birthday.
Turning 70?
| Eligible from (your birthday) |
Dates of birth |
Programme start date |
Programme year |
| 70th |
September 1953 to 31 August 1954 |
1 September 2023 |
Year 1 |
| 1 September 1954 to 31 August 1955 |
1 September 2024 |
Year 2 |
| 1 September 1955 to 31 August 1956 |
1 September 2025 |
Year 3 |
| 1 September 1956 to 31 August 1957 |
1 September 2026 |
Year 4 |
| 1 September 1957 to 31 August 1958 |
1 September 2027 |
Year 5 |
Turning 65?
| Eligible from (your birthday) |
Dates of birth |
Programme start date |
Programme year |
| 65th |
September 1958 to 31 August 1959 |
1 September 2023 |
Year 1 |
| 1 September 1959 to 31 August 1960 |
1 September 2024 |
Year 2 |
| 1 September 1960 to 31 August 1961 |
1 September 2025 |
Year 3 |
| 1 September 1961 to 31 August 1962 |
1 September 2026 |
Year 4 |
| 1 September 1962 to 31 August 1963 |
1 September 2027 |
Year 5 |
From 1 September 2023, all newly eligible individuals will be offered 2 doses of the non-live shingles vaccine Shingrix instead of Zostavax.
Individuals who have received Zostavax previously should not be revaccinated with Shingrix.
Those cohorts previously eligible for Zostavax who are under 80 years of age, should continue to be offered Zostavax until central stocks deplete, after which they should be offered Shingrix.
Shingrix can be administered alongside other vaccines such as Flu, pneumococcal, etc.
Read more about Shingles on nhs.uk