Which shots are due at which age, and what to do if your child missed one.
Vaccines protect children against diseases that still cause serious illness and death in Liberia, including measles, polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, whooping cough and pneumonia. The schedule is designed so protection arrives before the child is most likely to meet each disease.
The first vaccines come at birth: BCG for tuberculosis and the first hepatitis B dose. From six weeks of age, visits follow at regular intervals through the first year, covering polio, pentavalent vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine and rotavirus. Measles vaccination follows at nine months, with a second dose later.
Keep your child's vaccination card safe and bring it to every visit. It is the record that tells any health worker, anywhere, what your child has already received and what is due next.
If your child missed a dose, do not worry and do not start over. Catch-up vaccination is safe and routine. Bring the child and the card, and we will work out what is needed to complete the schedule.
Mild fever or soreness at the injection site for a day or two is normal and settles on its own. If your child develops a high fever, persistent crying, or anything that worries you after a vaccination, bring them in and we will check them.
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