Can you ask the NHS for your newborn's vaccinations when they are 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks?

[Justine221122]

We have a trip to Australia and can't wait 8 weeks. I would love to know if anyone has experience in this? Surely not every baby in the UK has to wait 8 weeks before travelling.

Unlikely to get it early i would think

I tried to get my daughters done at 7 weeks and 3 days and was given a very firm no, eight weeks was the absolute minimum.

It's really not a good idea to fly them and travel without their jabs.

It can be done earlier than 8 weeks than but talk to your GP. NHS might refuse if it isn't based on health. You can seek out private options.

I can't see why they would give them early. Usually vaccines won't have been tested as safe until a certain age.

They may be happy to delay them though, so it would depend on whether you would want to travel without them.

Not licensed for administration before 8 weeks and so the nurse is not allowed to give.

I asked, was told no.

We flew before the 8 week jabs, it's quite common.

They won't give them early, but they aren't required for travel.

They're not required but it's a hell of a risk to take. If they catch something nasty unvaccinated it can awful if not worse. Now that more and more kids and adults aren't vaccinated babies are at higher risk.

They won't be fully protected with only 1 set of vaccines as they need a full course of them. Either go without the vaccines or delay travel until they've had all the baby vaccines for full protection

They are not approved for below 8 weeks so you won't get a Dr to do them earlier.

Can you delay your trip at all?

No

Reschedule your trip

Yes, you may be able to.

You’ll want to look at Chapter 11 of the Green Book, the UK immunisation schedule. this states that “Immunisations should not be given before the scheduled age unless there is a clear clinical indication for this. The first set of primary immunisations can be given from 6 weeks of age if required in certain circumstances such as travel to an endemic country.” It states that vaccination pre-6 weeks isn’t recommended.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6196386dd3bf7f054f43e02d/Greenbook-cover-Nov21.pdf

Whether it will be easy to find a GP to do it, and whether it’s actually a good idea are different questions of course!