Download the latest version of the vaccination guide

The first is the "Immunization Program" column on the official website of the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention. The latest ones are the two core documents "Children's Immunization Procedures and Instructions for National Immunization Program Vaccines" and "Vaccination Guidelines for Non-Immunization Programs" updated in 2024. Click on the corresponding announcement and pull it to the attachment column to download the PDF directly. No ads or jumps.； The second is the official WeChat public account of "China Disease Control and Prevention Updates". Search for the keyword "vaccination guide". The latest headline tweet has a download link attached, and you can directly save it locally on your mobile phone. ； The third is the official website/public account of the local provincial and municipal CDC. Some areas with special epidemic histories will supplement localized vaccination recommendations, and the version will be updated simultaneously with the national level. Don’t go to the messy third-party libraries or medical information sites. Most of them are old versions from 2021 or even earlier, missing many key updates.

Speaking of which, I just helped my sister go through this trap last week. She randomly searched for a download link on a certain site, downloaded an old guide from 2019, and followed the above procedure to arrange a vaccination plan for her three-year-old baby. She almost missed the meningococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine that had just been included in the national immunization plan in 2023, and she broke out in a cold sweat. Many people think that vaccine guidelines are old documents that have not changed for several years. This is not the case. The update frequency in the past two years has been much faster than before: the age expansion of the HPV nine-valent vaccine to 9-45 years old was only adjusted in 2022, and the priority vaccination recommendations for middle-aged and elderly people for the herpes zoster vaccine were just added in 2024, as well as the annual strain matching recommendations for the influenza vaccine, and the latest suitable groups for the new crown vaccine booster shot. The old version either did not mention it at all, or it is outdated guidance.

There was an argument about this in the group of mothers before. Some people said that the national version of the guideline is the most authoritative and it is correct to follow it. Others said that the version issued by the local CDC is more in line with the local epidemic situation and is more practical. In fact, there is really no need to fight. The two PDFs add up to only a few MB, and they do not take up memory when downloaded. The national version is the bottom line requirement, and all vaccination institutions must follow this. The local version is supplementary. For example, the guides in dengue endemic areas such as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan will have dengue vaccination recommendations. The guides in Jiangsu and Zhejiang will specifically supplement vaccine tips related to tick-borne diseases. These are contents that the national version will not write in such detail. It is safer to read them together.

Oh, by the way, don’t leave it in the network disk to collect dust after downloading it. When I was debating whether to vaccinate my baby with the five-part vaccine, I read the guide and saw clearly that the incidence of adverse reactions of the five-part vaccine is about 30% lower than that of taking the single vaccine separately. If the economy allows, it is completely optional. It is not like what is said in the circle of friends that "foreign vaccines are not suitable for Chinese babies." When I persuaded my dad to take the shingles vaccine last year, I directly showed him what was written in the guide: "The incidence of shingles in people over 50 years old is 15%, and the protection rate after vaccination can reach more than 90%." It was much more effective than me saying "if you get vaccinated, you won't suffer".

I also ran into a trap when I was looking for a guide for the first time. I clicked on a medical website that looked like an official one. The downloaded PDF contained a lot of advertisements for private hospitals. I even changed the content privately and marked several non-immunization program vaccines as "required." Later I discovered that all non-immunization program vaccines in the official guide were voluntary. Don’t be too troublesome. When searching, add the word “official” to the keyword. The first result that comes out is basically a formal channel. After downloading, take a look at the release unit and time in the footer. Versions before 2023 can only be used as a historical reference. Don’t just follow them. It doesn’t matter if you really don’t understand the professional terminology inside. The vaccination doctors at the community health service center have been trained on the latest version of the guidelines. If you have questions, ask them directly, which is much more reliable than trying to figure it out on your own.

To be honest, when it comes to vaccination, it is better to use the latest official guidelines as a reference than to listen to miscellaneous rumors on the Internet or the personal experiences of relatives and friends. Save one in your mobile phone. When you need to make an appointment for a vaccine for yourself or your family, you can figure it out in two minutes, which saves you worry and peace of mind.