Vaccination isn’t just important in early childhood — it’s also essential during the transition to adolescence, ensuring kids stay protected as they grow.
Early childhood can be the time with the greatest number of vaccination recommendations, given their pivotal role in protecting vulnerable young children and building lifelong immunity. But an often overlooked period is that of the years that follow, which transition towards adulthood. For today, we will focus on what vaccination recommendations look like at this age.
To begin with, not all kids entering this age have completed their routine childhood immunizations. This provides them with an opportunity to get caught up on any missing vaccinations, as well as ones that may have been more recently approved. This catching up is very important as they navigate through spaces where they could get exposed to one or more of these vaccine preventable diseases.
3 recommended vaccines
There are three important vaccines to consider when discussing recommended vaccines for older children:
The first dose of Tdap booster is recommended between the ages of 11 and 12. It protects against tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough (Pertussis). This particular dose serves as a booster dose to the series initiated in early childhood and will continue to be recommended every ten years into adult years.
Second, there are multiple vaccines against meningitis and most children do not receive them in early childhood. The exceptions are those with certain high risk health conditions like HIV, poor functioning of the spleen, or certain underlying diseases of the immune system. In these cases, it is recommended the meningococcal vaccine be administered during their first two years of life. For all other kids, which represent the vast majority of children, the meningococcal vaccine is recommended in two doses: the first one at ages 11-12 and the second one at age 16.
And finally, vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV) are recommended at ages 11-12 (but can be given as early as age 9). This vaccine protects children against HPV, which is sexually transmitted and therefore more likely to happen as adolescents become sexually active. It can be a total of 2 or 3 doses to complete the series.
Disclaimer: This blog content and linked materials are not intended as individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and should not be considered as such. Any readers with medical concerns should contact a licensed healthcare provider. This blog is provided for informational purposes only.
