Completing the immunisation schedule

In many countries, national immunisation guidelines set out the timetable for childhood vaccination within the first year of life. If the child fails to complete the full set of recommended vaccines by 11 months, there are often no provisions to allow the child to "catch up" on missed vaccinations.

While WHO recommends that children older than one year should still be vaccinated in order to complete the immunisation series, this is often not implemented in countries due to concerns about stock outs and as international donors do not usually purchase EPI vaccines for older age groups.

Countries and international organisations should implement the WHO recommendations and make sure that children complete their immunisation series, even if they are older than one year.