Vaccine Resources: Routine Immunization Summary Tables Updated by WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently updated summary tables related to routine immunization recommendations. Although the primary audiences for these tables are national immunization managers and related stakeholders and decision-makers, knowing of their existence may be useful for healthcare providers and others involved in the dissemination of vaccines or vaccine information. Providers should realize these are primarily meant to provide guidance to country-level decision-makers and should not replace country-specific recommendations provided by groups such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S.

Contents:

• User’s Guide — This 19-page document affords users an overview of the program and the summary tables, including information related to how to use them.
• Recommended routine immunizations for all age groups (Table 1) — This 11-page document includes a two-page table indicating which vaccines should be given at different ages. The remaining nine pages provide details and notes related to each antigen.
• Detailed information related to routine immunizations for children (Table 2) — This 11-page document describes the number of doses in the primary series, minimum intervals, and booster doses as well as detailed notes.
• Recommendations related to interrupted and delayed vaccinations (Table 3) — This 10-page document summarizes WHO positions related to dosing and catch-up vaccinations.
• Healthcare worker recommendations (Table 4) — This two-page document summarizes WHO positions related to the vaccination of healthcare workers.

Updates, additional background information, and versions in French are available on the WHO website.