Vaccines

Vaccines train the immune system to recognise and fight specific infections without making you ill. They are among the most important tools in medicine — childhood vaccines alone prevent millions of deaths worldwide every year. India runs one of the world's largest vaccination programmes through the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), which provides multiple vaccines free of charge to children and pregnant women at government health facilities.

How vaccines work

A vaccine contains a weakened, killed, or tiny piece of a germ — or the genetic instructions to make one. Your immune system learns to recognise and fight it. When you later meet the real infection, your body responds quickly and you usually avoid illness or have a much milder one.

Childhood vaccines in India (National Schedule)

Vaccines provided free under the Universal Immunisation Programme include:

• BCG — against tuberculosis, at birth
• Hepatitis B — at birth and through infancy
• Polio (OPV and IPV) — multiple doses
• DPT / pentavalent / Td — diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, with Hib and hepatitis B combined in pentavalent
• Rotavirus — against severe diarrhoea in infants
• PCV (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) — against pneumonia and meningitis
• Measles, Mumps & Rubella (MMR) / MR — two doses
• Japanese Encephalitis (JE) — in endemic districts
• Vitamin A — supplement, not a vaccine but given in the schedule
• Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) boosters — in adolescence and pregnancy

Additional vaccines — influenza, HPV, chickenpox, typhoid conjugate, meningococcal — are available through private clinics, and some are being rolled out in public programmes state by state.

Adult vaccines

Adults may also need vaccines:

• Tetanus booster every 10 years, and after injury if not recent
• Annual influenza (flu) vaccine — especially for older adults, people with chronic conditions, pregnant women, and healthcare workers
• COVID-19 vaccines and boosters
• Pneumococcal vaccine for older adults and high-risk groups
• Shingles vaccine for older adults
• Hepatitis B — particularly for healthcare workers, travellers, and those at higher risk
• HPV vaccine — most effective before sexual activity; available for young women and men
• Typhoid and hepatitis A — for travellers and at-risk groups
• Rabies post-exposure vaccine after any animal bite

Are vaccines safe?

All licensed vaccines go through rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness. Like any medicine, they can cause mild side effects — soreness at the injection site, low-grade fever, mild aches for a day or two. Serious reactions are very rare. The benefit of preventing serious disease far outweighs the risk of vaccination for almost everyone.

Missed vaccinations can usually be caught up. Talk to your doctor — don't delay out of fear of being behind schedule.