Recommended Immunization Schedules for Persons Aged 0 Through 18 Years — United States, 2012

Weekly
February 10, 2012 / 61(05);1-4

Each year, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) publishes immunization schedules for persons aged 0 through 18 years. These schedules summarize recommendations for currently licensed vaccines for children aged 0 through 6 years and 7 through 18 years and include recommendations in effect as of December 23, 2011.
Vaccination providers are being advised to use all three schedules (Figure 1, Figure 2, and Figure 3) and their respective footnotes together and not separately.
A parent-friendly schedule for children and adolescents is available online at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm#printable.
Changes to the previous schedules include the following:

Updates to Figure 1 ("Recommended immunization schedule for persons aged 0 through 6 years"):
— Quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) purple bar has been extended to reflect licensure of MCV4-D (Menactra) use in children as young as age 9 months.
— A wording change has been introduced in the hepatitis A (HepA) vaccine yellow bar; wording now states, "Dose 1." A new yellow and purple bar has been added to reflect HepA vaccine recommendations for children aged 2 years and older.
Guidance is provided for administration of hepatitis B (HepB) vaccine in infants with birthweights <2,000 grams and ≥2,000 grams. Clarification is provided for doses after administration of the birth dose of HepB vaccine.
Rotavirus (RV) vaccine footnotes have been condensed.
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine footnotes have been condensed, and use of Hiberix for the booster (final) dose has been clarified. Guidance for use of Hib vaccine in persons aged 5 years and older in the catch-up schedule has been updated.
Pneumococcal vaccine footnotes have been condensed.
Guidance is provided for use of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in infants aged 6 through 11 months. Footnotes in the catch-up schedule have been condensed.
HepA vaccine footnotes have been updated to clarify that the second dose of HepA vaccine should be administered 6–18 months after dose 1.
MCV4 footnotes have been updated to reflect recent recommendations published in MMWR.
Influenza vaccine footnotes have been updated to provide guidance on live, attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) contraindications.
Influenza vaccine footnotes also have been updated to clarify dosing for children aged 6 months through 8 years for the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons.
Figure 2 ("Recommended immunization schedule for persons aged 7 through 18 years") has been updated to include number of doses for each vaccine. Information regarding the recommended age (16 years) for the booster dose of MCV4 has been added.
Tdap vaccine recommendations for children aged 7 through 10 years have been updated.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine footnotes have been updated to include routine recommendations for vaccination of males.
Varicella (VAR) vaccine footnotes have been condensed.
Inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) footnotes have been updated to include upper age limit for routine vaccination. IPV footnotes in the catch-up schedule have been condensed, and relevant wording added to Figure 3 ("Catch-up immunization schedule for persons aged 4 months through 18 years who start late or who are more than 1 month behind").
In the catch-up immunization schedule, HepA vaccine and HepB vaccine footnotes have been removed. Relevant wording has been added to Figure 3.
MCV4 vaccine has been added to Figure 3 along with corresponding footnotes.

The recommended immunization schedules for persons aged 0 through 18 years and the catch-up immunization schedule for 2012 are approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Suggested citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recommended immunization schedules for persons aged 0–18 years—United States, 2012. MMWR 2012;61(5).