Where To Get Baby Vaccinations
I've been learning a lot from other mummies and also from my own experience with regards to baby vaccinations, so I'm gonna share and record what I've learnt here!
Where to get vaxed
So if you're a mum, I'm sure you have seen this image:
This is the most up-to-date schedule, which may be different from the one in your baby's health booklet. I guess they change it up according to the newest research. The jabs are more or less the same, just that the updated schedule lets babies be vaxed a little later for the first 6 months and they added the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine into the new schedule.
Where to get vaxed
There are a few options, all of which are free for Singaporeans as long as they are under the government's immunization scheme (aka those listed in the chart above):
- Polyclinic - Newborns can walk in, but subsequent visits are by appointment. If you fail to make an appointment, get ready to be turned away because it's just too crowded to squeeze you in!
- GP - If you are lazy like me, don't want to bother with making online polyclinic appointments and don't have a polyclinic within walking distance of your house, then this might be the better option for you. Yes, they're usually free as well (definitely for those that accept CHAS card since they're affiliated with MOH), but you might want to call up ahead of time to check if they have the vaccines available. In my case, I couldn't find a GP that had the MMR vaccine, so I used the next option.
Also, they often don't do the developmental screenings, which occur at 4mths, 12mths and 18mths. So you can always go to the polyclinic for these 3 checkpoints. Another issue with this option is that YOU have to tell the doctor what you want. For example, they won't ask if you need paracetamol in case baby has a fever. If you want to be prepared, then you have to ask for it yourself. However polyclinic will give you all these things (not free but highly subsidized). Otherwise if you are like me and don't like to use medications on your baby, then learn paediatric tuina. I've been using it for my baby and so far (he's 13 months at the moment) he hasn't needed any medications (touch wood). - Door-step vaccination service affiliated with your personal insurance - I know that GE and AIA offer this service, but I don't think Prudential has though (let me know if they do!) AIA used to have one that did the developmental screenings but they changed to another provider that doesn't offer it. This option was pretty straightforward for me as I just had to inform my agent and give him images of my baby's health booklet and he helped me to book the slot. I used this after I found that the GPs near me didn't have the MMR vaccine. However I know of some people who don't really trust their transportation and storage methods, especially for the MMR live vaccine, hence they end up choosing the polyclinic route instead.
Optional vaccines
- Rotavirus
- Chicken pox
- Influenza
I didn't get these since they were optional (my boy doesn't go to school so he is low risk), but you can let the nurses know if you don't want to take them. Otherwise most of the time, especially for the polyclinic route, they will assume you want them or at least offer them. They might even ask you why you don't want to take them.
Vaccination Combinations
- 2 months (1 or 2 jabs + oral): 6-in-1, or if the GP only has 5-in-1 and hep B, then baby gets 2 jabs. Rotavirus (oral, optional)
- 4 months (2 jabs): 5-in-1 + PCV. According to the nurse, PCV hurts more.
- 6 months (2 jabs): 6-in-1 + PCV (I know some mums who did influenza jab at 6 months, so it could be 3 jabs for some.)
- 12 months (2 or 3 jabs): This has a lot of variation, and most babies get rather high fever and even rash. For me I didn't take varicella, just PCV, followed by MMR one week later. My boy didn't get fever so phew! If you do varicella + MMR, it's 2 jabs. If you do varicella + MMR + PCV, it's 3 jabs. Other mums told me that the polyclinic nurse said you could do PCV at 15 months, so if you don't want all 3 vaccines at once, you can postpone the PCV to 15 months. Or do it 1 week earlier at the GP's like me.
- 15 months (1, 2 or 3 jabs): Varicella + MMR + PCV (3 jabs)/ Varicella + MMR (if you already completed PCV at 12 months; 2 jabs)/ MMR (1 jab, if you opt out of varicella since it's optional)
- 18 months (1 jab): 5-in-1
Other things to note
- If your child has an infection (e.g. cold, flu or stomach flu etc), you have to postpone your vaccination appointment for 1-2 weeks later. Polyclinics wouldn't do the developmental screenings separately either. So don't waste your time going down if your baby has the sniffles, unless you need to get some medication!
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