When is the 4-in-1 booster needed?

The 4-in-1 vaccine is routinely offered on the NHS to all children from the age of three years and four months old up to starting school.

When your child is scheduled to receive their 4-in-1 vaccine will depend on your GP surgery.

The vaccine is given as a single injection directly into the muscle of the upper arm.

Your child will be offered the pre-school booster to make sure that the vaccinations they had when they were babies will provide enough protection to last throughout their school years.

Who should not have the 4-in-1 pre-school booster?

There are very few children who cannot have this vaccine but as a general rule it shouldn't be given to children who have had a serious allergic reaction (anaphylactic reaction) to a previous dose of any part of the vaccine.

Children with a minor illness, such as a cough or cold, are able to have the vaccine. But if your child is more seriously ill with a fever, it's best to delay vaccination until they have recovered. This is to avoid wrongly associating any progression of the illness with possible side effects of the vaccine.

Combining the 4-in-1 pre-school booster with other vaccines

It's perfectly safe for the pre-school booster to be given at the same time as other vaccines, such as MMR, the flu vaccine or BCG.

 

Last Updated: 17/02/2022 16:08:47
The information on this page has been adapted by NHS Wales from original content supplied by NHS website nhs.uk