WASHINGTON D.C., DC — QUESTION:
Is it safe to vaccinate your child against the measles before their scheduled shots?
ANSWER:
Yes, health experts recommend if you must travel overseas, or anywhere with a known measles outbreak, you can vaccinate infants between six to 11 months old.
SOURCES:
Dr. Anthony Fauci: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Measles Cases and Outbreaks ; For Travelers ; Measles: Make Sure Your Child is Fully Immunized
World Health Organization-: New measles surveillance data for 2019
PROCESS:
The 23-state measles outbreak has made traveling with kids a lot messier.
With 764 lab confirmed cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the disease doesn't seem to be slowing down, and parents are looking for answers.
So we're verifying: Is it safe to vaccinate your child before their scheduled shots?
To get our answers our Verify researchers turned to health professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy and Infection Diseases.
Typically babies get their first shot between 12 to 15 months, but they told our researchers it is okay to give a measles shot several months ahead of schedule.
"The standard way you vaccinate is you give the first vaccination at 12 to 15 months and the second one at about four to six years," Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID, said. "But if you have to go to international travel where you're uncertain what's the status of measles outbreaks in those places, if the child is six to 11 months give them the single shot."
The CDC dedicates a page to warning travelers of where health notices are currently in effect. Currently the CDC warns travelers of measles outbreaks in Brazil, Israel, Japan, the Philippines and Ukraine, and recommends to get vaccinated before traveling to those regions.
"If I had a child from birth to six months, I would not do international travel with that child," Fauci said. "You leave it up to discretion, sometimes you absolutely have to travel because of family reasons. It's a risk, if you don't have to do it, I wouldn't do it."
But, If your baby gets a shot at six months, they still need to get those two other scheduled doses.
Also, if your baby is 12 months and you don't want to travel without getting that second booster at four years old, you can get that early too. Health experts say as long as you wait at least 28 days from the first dose.
So we can Verify, yes you can vaccinate your child for the measles early.