Should you consider a pediatric urgent care center for your child’s vaccination? The answer is yes because urgent care centers offer care services for your child’s immunization. As child immunization is essential for child health and safety, you should know the right time for vaccination as well. Let us help you. Read this article to learn about the vaccination schedule for your child and why you should choose urgent care centers for your child’s vaccination. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.
Why choose urgent care for your child’s vaccination
For your child’s vaccination, urgent care can be an excellent choice for many reasons. For instance, convenience is one of the common factors to look at when it comes to immunization. Urgent care centers offer flexible hours, including weekends to visit them. This makes it easier for you to visit them when you’re not busy with work, kids’ school schedules, and other commitments. Countless studies show vaccines are safe and help to prevent life-threatening diseases. They are crucial for both adults and children to stay healthy and protect them from those infections. Here are other reasons why you should choose an urgent care center for your next vaccination:
- No appointment walk-in: Most urgent care centers offer walk-ins on any day of the week during operating hours to get a vaccine. It is more reliable than your drugstore pharmacy or your primary care provider (PCP). Additionally, urgent care centers often open within the city range to offer more convenience to the community.
- Affordable: Urgent care centers accept a wide range of health insurance plans. However, if you don’t have insurance, then their rates are very affordable which puts less load in your pocket and offers different payment options.
- Availability: Many urgent care centers offer a large number of vaccines which include annual jabs like the flu vaccine along with Tdap, MMR, Hepatitis A & B, and COVID-19.
Vaccination schedule for your child
This schedule is introduced by infectious disease experts to protect children from serious to life-threatening diseases and their complications. It includes a list of vaccines that are given to your child at specific ages. They include:
- At birth:
- Hepatitis B (HepB) within 24 hours of birth, only the first dose in the 3-dose series.
- Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine first dose at birth and another one after a month.
- Polio drops 2 doses at birth, and others are given at 6, 10, and 14 weeks (about 3 months), and 2 booster doses at 16 to 24 months (about 2 years).
- Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antibody is given within one week of birth, only for babies who were born during RSV season (typically October to March) and didn’t receive it during pregnancy. If it’s not the RSV season, your baby can wait until the season starts for this immunization. This is not technically a vaccine, but given to provide ready-made protection, so that a baby’s immune system creates antibodies for immunization.
- 2 months:
- Hepatitis B (HepB) vaccine (dose two).
- Rotavirus vaccine, dose one.
- Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, dose one.
- Hemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine, dose one.
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), dose one.
- Polio drops (second dose).
- Inactivated poliovirus (IPV), dose one.
- 4 months:
- Polio drops (dose three).
- Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine (dose number two).
- Hemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine (dose number two).
- Rotavirus vaccine, dose number two.
- Inactivated poliovirus (IPV), dose number two.
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), dose number two.
- 6 months:
- Polio drops; dose number three.
- Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, dose number three.
- Hemophilus influenza type B (Hib) vaccine, dose number three, if you’re doing 4 dose series.
- Rotavirus vaccine, third dosage, if you’re doing the 3-dose series.
- Hepatitis B (HepB) vaccine, dose three.
- Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) vaccine, dose number three.
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), dose number three.
- Flu vaccine.
- COVID-19 vaccine.
- 12 months:
- Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, dose one.
- Hepatitis A (HepA) vaccine, dose one.
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), dose four.
- 15 months:
- Varicella (VAR) vaccine, dose one.
- Polio drops, booster dose.
- Hepatitis B (Hib) vaccine, if you do 4 dose series.
- Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, dose four.
- 18-month vaccines:
- Polio drops, booster dose.
- Hepatitis A (HepA), dose second.
- 4th year vaccines:
- Diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, dose fifth.
- Inactivated poliovirus (IPV) vaccine, dose fourth.
- Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, dose second.
- Varicella (VAR) vaccine, dose second.
Your child can get these vaccines at the beginning of age 4 but a little later is ok as well before their 6th birthday. Your pediatrician recommends you get the vaccine at the appropriate time to ensure your child gets all vaccines before turning 6.
- 11 to 12 years old:
- Tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine, dose one (one dose for childhood, and others in every 10 years of life).
- Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, dose one and at least 5 months difference dose two is administered.
- Meningococcal (MenACWY) vaccine, dose one.
- 16 years old:
- Meningococcal (MenACWY) vaccine, dose second.
What happens during a UC visit?
During your visit to UC, the doctor will check your baby’s progress and growth. The doctor performs a physical exam to check your kid, including:
- Weight, length, and head circumference measurements to record on your baby’s growth chart.
- To check any previous problems.
- Check the development (for example, head control, cooing, and smiling).
The doctor also asks questions like how you’re taking care of your baby, what you should expect in upcoming months safety precautions you should be careful about, and lastly vaccines during some visits.
If you have any questions in your mind, ask them and write down the answers or specific instructions your doctor offers you. At home, update your baby’s medical record, and follow their growth or any problems and illness.
When to call the doctor?
If your child shows these signs at an early age, then call your doctor for medical attention. It includes:
- Diarrhea and vomiting, which indicate infection and put your baby at risk for dehydration.
- Rashes are common in infants, however, if they bother your baby, it might occur due to skin conditions like eczema which makes the skin dry and itchy. Your doctor prescribes lotions, creams, and soaps to treat it.
- If your child shows signs of cold, then you should see a doctor. They can’t blow their noses, so you need to help them clear their mucus with a rubber bulb aspirator. However, don’t give your baby any medicine without consulting with your doctor first. Call the doctor if your baby is showing signs of troubled breathing, refuses to eat, has a rectal temperature above 100.4 degrees, or is very cranky or sleepy.
As you know your baby best, if you notice any health or behavior concerns, you should see the doctor.
Your child needs to be vaccinated from the day they are born to get protection from diseases that can harm them. That’s why you shouldn’t ignore the vaccination schedule for your child and ensure that they get every single vaccine that is necessary for their health and safety. For getting vaccinated on time, consider visiting pediatric urgent care centers because they offer good care services and have most of the necessary vaccines required for your child’s immunization.
Need help with child vaccinations, visit our pediatric urgent care center in Brooklyn to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now!!!
Doral Health and Wellness has several urgent care clinics around New York that can cater to your family’s medical needs. We also have the best medical providers, physicians and staff that are highly trained in their respective specialties. To know more about the locations of our urgent care clinics, you can visit us at Doral Health and Wellness. If you are looking for urgent care near you, you can visit Doral Health and Wellness Urgent Care. We provide urgent care for common illnesses and injuries. Additionally, we also provide comprehensive care for any related injuries and health problems. We also offer other services, such as vaccinations, immunizations, and blood testing. For more info, visit us or call 1-347-384-5690.
