Table. Minimum acceptable dose intervals for children <10 years of age, for NIP-funded vaccines
See Catch-up guidelines for individual vaccines for children <10 years of age for important details, including for Hib, meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines.
These are not the routinely recommended intervals between vaccine doses. These minimum intervals are only to be used for catch-up vaccination. Catch-up using a combination vaccine must meet the minimum intervals for all antigens.
Vaccine intervals ≤1 week are specified in days, <6 months are specified in weeks and those ≥6 months are specified in months or years as appropriate. A month, in the case of vaccine intervals, refers to a period of 4 weeks.
| Vaccine | Minimum interval between doses 1 and 2 | Minimum interval between doses 2 and 3 | Minimum interval between doses 3 and 4 | Minimum interval between doses 4 and 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTPa | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 6 months | 6 months (unless dose 4 received at >3.5 years of age, then dose 5 is not needed) |
| Hepatitis A (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in NT, Qld, SA and WA only) | 6 months | na | na | na |
| Hepatitis B (excluding birth dose) | 4 weeks | 8 weeks (minimum interval between dose 1 and 3 is 16 weeks) |
na | na |
| Hib (the minimum interval between doses for Hib vaccines depends on the child's age, and previous doses received) - see Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 8 weeks | na |
| MMR | 4 weeks | na | na | na |
| Poliovirus (IPV) | 4 weeks | 4 weeks | 4 weeks (unless dose 3 received at >4 years of age, then dose 4 is not needed) | na |
| Pneumococcal – PCV (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and those with a risk condition need an extra dose — see Pneumococcal disease) | 4 weeks | 8 weeks (must be ≥12 months of age) | na | na |
| MenACWY (at 12 months of age) (infants with certain immunocompromising conditions need extra doses — see Meningococcal disease) | 8 weeks (Menveo only; Nimenrix and MenQuadfi are given as a single dose) | na | na | na |
| Rotavirus | 4 weeks (must be within upper age limit) | 4 weeks (for RotaTeq 3rd dose in schedule) | na | na |
| Varicella | 4 weeks | na | na | na |
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