Can You Move Up Your Child’s Vaccine Schedule If You’re Worried About Accessing Them Later?

As the measles outbreak in Texas wears on, having already claimed the life of one school-age child and causing illness in many more, families who have previously declined the vaccine are now scheduling the shot for their kids. Meanwhile, members of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s expert committee on vaccines were informed via email that their annual meeting to decide which strains should be included in the next year’s flu shot was canceled (not just postponed). If all the talk about vaccines has you concerned about getting them for your child, it’s natural to wonder, can you move up your child’s vaccine schedule?

Experts are also nervous about the future of vaccine access for children in the U.S. “The current landscape that we're seeing for vaccines is very scary because we have a lot of unknowns at this point,” says Dr. Lori Handy, associate director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. “We've seen postponement of two key committees that help make decisions about vaccines. It will be important to see how vaccines are funded. About half of the country receives vaccination through the Vaccines for Children Program, which is partially funded by the federal government. There are a lot of unknowns that we need to keep watching carefully.”

Can you move up your child’s vaccination schedule?

The recommended immunization schedule for U.S. citizens, from birth through adulthood, is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. If you take a peek, you’ll notice most vaccines have a recommended age range in which to receive them, rather than one specific age.

“Many vaccine doses have what's considered an acceptable range during which we have studied the administration of that vaccine. We know it's safe, we know it's effective, and we know that it safely interacts with other vaccines potentially given at that time,” says Handy.

For example, the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine’s second dose is typically given anywhere between 4 and 6 years of age. Your pediatrician might typically give them at a certain time — let’s say the 5-year-old well-child appointment — for their own ease. They know at that appointment to talk to parents about the vaccine and double check they’ve had the opportunity to get it. But “there is the opportunity for a family to say, ‘I would like it at age 4,’ and that's perfectly safe,” she says.

That said, you can’t just ask for every vaccine under the sun all at once. The immunization schedule is based on when children are most susceptible to catching these illnesses, and which shots interact with each other safely without changing their effectiveness. So, chat with your doctor about what shots your child is in the age range for, and what is specifically concerning to you.

Now that our nation's health leaders have made anti-vaccine rhetoric mainstream, here's what Dr. Handy wants all parents to remember going forward: "Parents really need to assess the information that they're getting and make sure that it's from scientifically backed, reliable sources. In our current landscape, it's challenging to know what resource is reliable to guide your child's health. I am guiding parents to places like our center, the Vaccine Education Center, a freestanding children's hospital where our only mission is to protect children. The American Academy of Pediatrics, similarly, is there to protect children. And so you want to make sure that the information that you are reading and receiving is coming from an organization that has a long history in protecting the health of children."

If you reference these resources and see something conflicting elsewhere online, Handy encourages you to bring both pieces of information to your child's provider. This is someone you trust with your child's health who can help you decide which information you should use to keep your child healthy.

Finally, Handy recommends prioritizing your child's vaccination appointments, no matter how busy your family might be. "Just a few weeks ago I had an experience with a child who had a vaccine-preventable illness and was two months behind on their vaccines, not because they didn't believe in vaccines or they didn't want a vaccine, they just hadn't done it yet. And that's an experience we want no family to have to go through where they say, 'Oh, I just couldn't get an appointment, and I wished I had protected my child.' So families should really get to their appointments on time and work with their healthcare providers to find a time that works to get them vaccinated because it's critical."