Child vaccination schedule in Belgium: the parents' guide

23 August 2026 · updated 11 October 2026 · 19 min read

emmunity editorial teamHow we verify our information →

In Belgium your child's vaccines are free and organised by the community: Kind en Gezin (the Opgroeien agency) in Flanders, the ONE in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, with your GP or paediatrician as a possible alternative, and every dose is recorded in a digital database (Vaccinnet in the north, e-vax in the south).

Only one vaccine is legally mandatory, polio; all the others are strongly recommended. Here is how the schedule works in practice, age by age, and what changes on 1 November 2026 on the French-speaking side.

Key takeaways

Programme vaccines are free: Kind en Gezin and the ONE give them at no cost, and your GP or paediatrician can give the same injections with the same free vaccines.
Only polio vaccination is legally mandatory, and has been since 1967: the attestation must reach your commune before the child turns 18 months.
The schedule is not identical everywhere: the second MMR dose is due at 24 months in Flanders and around 7-8 years in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
On 1 November 2026 the hexavalent schedule moves to 2+1 in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation only; for a baby already mid-schedule, transition rules apply, and the four-dose schedule remains necessary if the first two doses were given less than 8 weeks apart. The Flemish pages read on 11 October 2026 announce no change and no date.
Rotavirus is recommended but bought at the pharmacy: it sits outside the vignette circuit, and the health insurance fund reimburses a large part of it.

Want this calendar mapped onto your child's dates?Use the interactive vaccination calendar →

Who vaccinates your child, and where?

Free

Programme vaccines, at Kind en Gezin as at the ONE

Free consultation moments at Kind en Gezin

In Flanders, basic vaccination happens at the Kind en Gezin consultatiebureau, the service run by the Opgroeien agency. Kind en Gezin offers ten free consultation moments spread across a child's development, starting with a prenatal conversation and two home visits (around week 2 and week 6).

At the consultation, a team of doctor, nurse and volunteers monitors growth (weight, length, head circumference), runs the Van Wiechen development screening, a clinical examination, a hearing test within the first four weeks and eye screening at 12 and 30 months, and administers the vaccines of the Flemish programme.

Appointments are booked through the Kind en Gezin Line (078 150 100, from 8:00 to 20:00), on kindengezin.be or through the "Mijn Opgroeien" online booking system. In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the ONE takes that role, vaccinating in its consultations for children aged 0 to 6.

Those consultations are entirely free and follow the calendar of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation vaccination programme. The ONE also runs mobile and periodic consultations for geographic accessibility: 15 examinations between 0 and 3 years and 3 examinations between 3 and 6 years, vaccination included, free as well.

In both communities your GP or paediatrician can give exactly the same vaccines: the vignettes in the health booklet give access to the free vaccines from the healthcare provider of your choice, with the vaccinator still ordering the vaccine through Vaccinnet in Flanders or e-vax in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

Source : Opgroeien: the Kind en Gezin service offer ↗Kind en Gezin: vaccinations ↗ONE: vaccination ↗vaccination-info.be: free vaccines and reimbursements ↗

emmunity reminds you before every due date, without a second thought.

Which vaccine at which age? The current schedule

Until 31 October 2026 the infant core is identical in both communities up to 15 months; the differences appear after that, mainly on the second MMR dose and on the school-age boosters, which follow a school year rather than an exact age. The table below sets out the schedule as it is applied until that date; what changes afterwards in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation is described below the table.

Age	Vaccine	Community	Note
8 weeks (2 months)	Hexavalent (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, hepatitis B), 1st dose	All of Belgium	Vaxelis in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Hexyon in Flanders
8 weeks (2 months)	Pneumococcus (PCV13), 1st dose	All of Belgium	2+1 schedule; extra dose at 12 weeks for preterm babies
From 8 weeks	Rotavirus (oral)	All of Belgium	Recommended but not free; strict age limits
12 weeks (3 months)	Hexavalent, 2nd dose	All of Belgium
16 weeks (4 months)	Hexavalent, 3rd dose, and pneumococcus, 2nd dose	All of Belgium
12 months	MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), 1st dose, and pneumococcus booster	All of Belgium
15 months	Hexavalent booster (4th dose)	All of Belgium	Preterm under 37 weeks: 13 months (in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation: until 31 October 2026)
15 months	Meningococcal ACWY	All of Belgium	Preterm: 13 months; catch-up possible up to age 7 in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation
24 months	MMR, 2nd dose	Flanders	Brought forward in September 2025; catch-up around age 9 for the 2016-2022 cohorts
5-6 years (1st primary)	DTaP-IPV booster	All of Belgium	Through the CLB in Flanders, the PSE in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation
7-8 years (2nd primary)	MMR, 2nd dose	Wallonia-Brussels Federation	Through the PSE
Around 12 years (1st secondary)	HPV, 2 doses	Flanders	Through the CLB, all genders, doses at least 6 months apart
13-14 years (2nd secondary)	HPV, 2 doses	Wallonia-Brussels Federation	Through the PSE, all genders
Around 14 years (3rd secondary)	dTpa booster	Flanders	Through the CLB
15-16 years (4th secondary)	dTpa booster	Wallonia-Brussels Federation	Through the PSE
15-16 years	Meningococcal ACWY (adolescent)	All of Belgium	Recommended but not free within the school programme

On 1 November 2026 this schedule changes in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation only. The hexavalent vaccine is given at 2, 4 and 12 months instead of 2, 3, 4 and 15 months: the 3-month dose is removed and the booster moves to 12 months, so three doses instead of four for a baby who is starting vaccination. A baby already mid-schedule follows the transition rules described further down, which sometimes keep four doses.

The last pneumococcal dose (PCV13) shifts from 12 to 15 months for infants under 12 months on 1 November 2026: 2, 4 and 15 months instead of 2, 4 and 12 months. MMR at 12 months and meningococcal ACWY at 15 months are explicitly unchanged, and rotavirus keeps the same ages on both calendars.

For babies born before 37 weeks, the new calendar keeps the extra pneumococcal dose at 3 months and gives at 13 months the vaccines normally due at 15 months, namely pneumococcal and meningococcal ACWY. In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the hexavalent booster at 13 months shown in the table belongs to the calendar in force until 31 October 2026; the new documents give no separate hexavalent age for preterm babies.

In Flanders, the official pages read on 11 October 2026 (Departement Zorg, Kind en Gezin) keep the ages in the table, with no announcement of a change and no date: the 3+1 schedule described above continues there.

The ages of the school boosters depend on the school year rather than the exact age: they are indicative here. Content verified on 23 August 2026 against the official sources listed at the bottom of this page; the passages on the 1 November 2026 change and on the polio obligation were corrected on 11 October 2026.

Source : Departement Zorg: vaccinations by age (Flanders) ↗ONE: vaccination calendar (text version) ↗Wallonia-Brussels Federation calendar 2025-2026 (PDF) ↗Tool: the schedule mapped onto your child's dates ↗

What happens during the school years?

In Flanders the CLB (Centrum voor Leerlingenbegeleiding) gives the school-age doses of the basic schedule free of charge, throughout the school career:

the polio-diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis booster in the 1st year of primary school
MMR in the 2nd year (planned for the school years 2025-2026 through 2029-2030, as a temporary catch-up push)
a second MMR dose in the 4th year (for the school years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 only, transitionally)
HPV in the 1st year of secondary school (two doses)
the dTpa booster in the 3rd year of secondary school

Consent there is explicit: the CLB states it will never give a vaccine without that permission, and you receive all the information you need in advance to decide. Below the age of 12 the parent consents; above it, the pupil can consent for themselves. The sources reviewed do not describe any formal consequence of refusal.

In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation school vaccination is run by the school health promotion services (PSE) and the CPMS, in connection with the e-vax platform: a Wallonie-Bruxelles Enseignement circular (no. 9627 of 15 December 2025) confirms this arrangement, and e-vax publishes a brochure on vaccination by PSE nurses.

We could not verify the exact list of ages and school years on the French-speaking side to the same standard as the Flemish one: for the school calendar in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, refer to the school's PSE service or to the ONE. The same caution applies to the consent procedure, which was not confirmed in an official source: do not assume it mirrors the CLB's.

Source : Vrij CLB Netwerk: vaccinations ↗ONE: SPSE/CPMS-WBE vaccination programme (PDF) ↗WBE: circular 9627 of 15 December 2025 (PDF) ↗

Where are your child's vaccines recorded?

In Flanders every dose is recorded in Vaccinnet, the application run jointly by Kind en Gezin and the Departement Zorg, and noted in parallel in the paper Kind en Gezin booklet.

Vaccines given by Kind en Gezin have been recorded digitally since 1997; since 2006 other Flemish healthcare providers can register directly in Vaccinnet, and the database also holds CLB vaccinations from the 2005-2006 school year onward.

Registration is always the legal responsibility of the vaccinating provider, never the parent's. As a parent or legal guardian you can view a child's registered vaccinations up to age 16 through Mijngezondheid and its mobile app, under "Mijn vaccinaties"; the child's own access typically opens around 16.

Kind en Gezin also uploads a summary of the child's medical data (the "kindrapport") to the Vitalink platform, which a treating physician can consult if you consent and they can demonstrate a therapeutic relationship.

In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, e-vax plays a double role: the ordering platform for the free vaccines and the central register of vaccinations from 0 to 18 (and of pregnant women); the paper health booklet keeps its dedicated pages where the vaccinator writes down each dose.

Parental access differs, though: MaSanté in principle lets a parent view a minor child's health data once the legal parent-child relationship is recorded, yet vaccination data specifically is reported as unavailable in Wallonia and Brussels in the sources reviewed, with RTBF reporting that the portal is evolving precisely to close that gap. Automatic parental access ends on the child's 16th birthday.

That is exactly the gap a digital record like emmunity fills, by keeping each child's proofs in one place and offline, whichever community recorded them.

In practice a Flemish parent can therefore look up their child's history themselves, while a French-speaking parent still largely depends on a copy: the ONE can provide a vaccination certificate, a blank record or the missing dates from earlier consultations.

Source : Departement Zorg: check your vaccinations ↗RIZIV: Mijngezondheid ↗INAMI: MaSanté ↗e-vax: recording an individual vaccination (PDF) ↗

Which vaccines are mandatory?

The only legally mandatory vaccine: polio

18 months

Attestation to send to your commune

Just one: polio. Vaccination-info.be states that only vaccination against poliomyelitis is legally mandatory in Belgium, and has been since 1967; the obligation is anchored in the public health law of 1 September 1945. According to the polio page of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation's vaccination programme, it covers three doses of inactivated polio vaccine before the child turns 18 months: two in the first year of life and one in the second.

In the current schedule those doses sit inside the hexavalent injections: your child does not get a separate polio shot. The administrative side is easily forgotten: the doctor who gave the doses completes an attestation, and it is up to you to send it to the municipal administration of your commune of residence before the child turns 18 months.

Failing to do so can, after warnings, lead to prosecution under the penalty provisions of the 1945 law. Every other vaccine in the schedule is officially strongly recommended, not federally mandatory.

One nuance applies to childcare: in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, children enrolled in a licensed childcare facility for under-threes must meet additional vaccination requirements set out in a decree of 27 February 2003. Admission to a crèche there can therefore ask for more than polio alone, even though only polio is mandatory federally.

We do not reproduce the precise list of vaccines concerned here: ask the childcare facility. For Flanders, the sources reviewed did not yield an equivalent legal basis.

Source : vaccination-info.be: vaccination policy in Belgium ↗Wallonia-Brussels Federation vaccination programme: poliomyelitis (professionals) ↗

What if a dose was missed?

A missed dose does not mean starting over. The principle found across the Belgian sources reviewed is a personalised catch-up: the GP, the paediatrician or the doctor at the ONE or Kind en Gezin consultation draws up a schedule based on the child's actual vaccination history and current age, not on a universal table.

Kind en Gezin explicitly anticipates this case in its frequently asked questions, under an entry about the child whose ideal vaccination window has passed but who still needs a vaccination; the answer text itself could not be retrieved, so we do not quote it.

On the Flemish side the VWVJ, the scientific society for youth health care, publishes the catch-up schedules and decision trees used by CLB and Kind en Gezin doctors. The ONE, for its part, writes catch-up explicitly into its vaccination missions, alongside informing parents and administering the vaccines.

When a family moves between communities or arrives from abroad, the practice is to have the paper booklet, Vaccinnet or e-vax reviewed by the provider taking over, and to complete what is missing rather than restart from zero. No official Belgian page describes that scenario end to end in the sources reviewed: treat it as common practice, not as published policy.

Source : VWVJ: catch-up schedules for children and young people ↗ONE: children's consultations ↗

Why is rotavirus not free?

Rotavirus is the one recommended infant vaccine that falls outside the free circuit, and that holds in both communities. Vaccination-info.be is explicit: only the rotavirus vaccine does not enter the vignette circuit. Kind en Gezin puts it differently for Flanders: parents have to buy it themselves at the pharmacy.

In practice you buy it on prescription and your health insurance fund reimburses a large part of it; it is therefore not free at the point of purchase, unlike the programme vaccines, but what you pay yourself stays limited. It is given by mouth, from 8 weeks, in two or three doses depending on the brand, with strict age limits: better to raise it at the first consultation than to wait.

Beyond rotavirus, other vaccines bought at the pharmacy can attract partial or full RIZIV/INAMI reimbursement, topped up variably by your health insurance fund: that is a general reimbursement mechanism, not a rule specific to infants.

Source : vaccination-info.be: free vaccines and reimbursements ↗

What changes on 1 November 2026?

That date applies to the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, not to Belgium as a whole. The professional portal of the Federation's vaccination programme states it plainly: the 2025-2026 calendar remains in force until 31 October 2026, and the new schedule applies from 1 November 2026.

For a baby who starts vaccination from that date in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation's programme (ONE consultation, GP or paediatrician), the hexavalent vaccine moves from a 3+1 to a 2+1 schedule, with two primary doses at 2 and 4 months (the 12-week dose disappears) and a booster brought forward from 15 to 12 months, given at the same visit as the first MMR dose. The basic schedule therefore has one hexavalent injection fewer.

The last dose of the PCV13 pneumococcal schedule, in turn, shifts from 12 to 15 months (13 months for babies born before 37 weeks). The programme explains this move by the wish to avoid three injections at the 12-month visit. PCV13 remains the programme's vaccine: the move to PCV20 is not part of the 1 November change and remains under analysis.

Superior Health Council advice 9761 presents itself as a scientific reference to guide vaccinators, without prejudging the practical arrangements or the timeline for their implementation: each community sets its own pace.

According to Domus Medica (article re-read on 11 October 2026), the Departement Zorg, in consultation with Opgroeien, is examining whether and when the new schedule can be introduced; on the Flemish pages read on 11 October 2026, the current ages are unchanged, with no announcement and no date.

In the meantime, the same article notes that a Flemish parent can ask their GP or paediatrician to follow the new schedule outside the Kind en Gezin programme; it considers it important that this doctor sees to a complete, correct and registered schedule.

And if your baby is mid-schedule on 1 November? The Federation's vaccination programme published transition rules for professionals in September 2026 (a dossier and a decision diagram), and an article for parents. What that article tells parents: you have nothing to do yourself, and the doses your child has already received stay valid and are not repeated.

Keep the appointments already planned. The professional following your child checks the vaccination booklet or file, adapts the calendar to the doses received and to the child's age, and tells you when the next appointments are. If in doubt, bring your child's vaccination booklet to the next appointment and ask.

The table below summarises the programme's rules for the hexavalent vaccine, as they are given to professionals. The vaccinator applies them, after checking the child's age, the number of doses received and the interval between them: read the table as an explanation, not as your own child's schedule.

On 1 Nov 2026	What follows
No hexavalent dose received (schedule not started)	Three doses in total (2+1 schedule). New calendar: doses at 2, 4 and 12 months or, for a late start, according to the minimum intervals
1 dose received	Three doses in total (2+1 schedule). 2nd dose at least 8 weeks after the 1st; booster from 12 months and at least 6 months after the primary series
2 doses received, at least 8 weeks apart	Three doses in total (2+1 schedule). Booster from 12 months and at least 6 months after the primary series
2 doses received, less than 8 weeks apart	Four doses in total (3+1 schedule). 3rd dose at least 4 weeks after the 2nd; booster from 12 months and at least 6 months after the 3rd dose
3 doses received	Four doses in total (3+1 schedule). Booster from 12 months and at least 6 months after the primary series
3 doses received, child aged 12 to 15 months at the time of the change	The schedule already started is kept. Booster as soon as the child is seen in consultation or, by default, at 15 months

The key rule of the programme's diagram: if the first two doses were given less than 8 weeks apart, which is the case for two doses given one month apart as the dossier describes them, the four-dose schedule remains necessary, with a third dose and then a booster. The vaccinator applies this rule to your child: keep the appointments already planned.

The diagram points out that the booster is not planned on age alone: its date also depends on the dates of the earlier doses, with at least 6 months after the primary series. By primary series the diagram means doses 1 and 2 in the 2+1 schedule, or doses 1, 2 and 3 in the 3+1 schedule.

This summary follows the diagram and, for the last row, the dossier. The dossier describes the fourth case as two doses one month apart and, for the 3+1 schedules, speaks of a booster at 12 months rather than from 12 months.

The table has no row for babies born before 37 weeks: the dossier asks the vaccinator not to apply the standard schedule to them without the specific recommendations.

For pneumococcal vaccination the dossier distinguishes two cases. For an infant under 12 months on 1 November 2026, the last PCV13 dose is planned at 15 months instead of 12 months (13 months if born before 37 weeks). A child over 12 months who has already received the planned dose needs nothing more.

One case is not covered by the documents: a child who is 12 months or older on 1 November 2026 and has not yet received the 12-month dose. If that is your child's situation, ask your ONE consultation or your doctor.

Where are these documents? As of 11 October 2026, the dossier, the diagram and the 2026-2027 calendar are published on the programme's site for professionals. The site for the public announces the change and the new ages in an article, but its calendar page still shows the 2025-2026 calendar as the one in force and says the 2026-2027 calendar will be put online later.

Source : vaccination-info.be: the infant vaccination calendar changes on 1 November 2026 ↗Wallonia-Brussels Federation vaccination programme: guide to the new infant calendar 2026 (professionals) ↗Wallonia-Brussels Federation vaccination programme: decision diagram for the hexavalent transition 2026 (professionals) ↗Wallonia-Brussels Federation vaccination programme: vaccination calendar effective from 1 November 2026 ↗Wallonia-Brussels Federation vaccination programme: calendar and Superior Health Council recommendations ↗Superior Health Council: advice 9761, basic vaccination schedule (2025) ↗CBIP/BCFI: new basic vaccination schedule ↗Domus Medica: new Superior Health Council recommendations ↗

One record, several children

Between the paper Kind en Gezin booklet or the ONE health record, the doses given at the GP and those given at school, a child's vaccination history scatters across some fifteen years and several registers.

With two or three children, the gap between what is recorded somewhere and what you can actually look up becomes the real day-to-day problem. emmunity brings the whole family's proofs together in a digital record available offline, with a reminder before every due date.

Source : Vaccines and pregnancy in Belgium ↗Tool: the schedule mapped onto your child's dates ↗

Frequently asked questions

Which vaccines are mandatory for school or childcare?

Only one vaccine is legally mandatory in Belgium: polio, since 1967, under the public health law of 1 September 1945. According to the Wallonia-Brussels Federation's vaccination programme, the obligation covers three doses before 18 months, fulfilled today through the hexavalent injections in the schedule: the doctor completes an attestation that you send to your municipal administration before the child turns 18 months, and failing to do so can lead to prosecution after warnings. At school in Flanders, the CLB vaccinates with your explicit consent, and the sources reviewed describe no formal consequence of refusal; in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, check with the school's PSE service, as the official sources reviewed do not detail the procedure. Childcare is a separate case: in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, licensed facilities for under-threes apply additional requirements set out in a decree of 27 February 2003.

What changes in the vaccination schedule on 1 November 2026?

This change applies to the Wallonia-Brussels Federation only. The Federation's 2025-2026 vaccination programme calendar remains in force until 31 October 2026; from 1 November the hexavalent vaccine moves from a 3+1 to a 2+1 schedule: two primary doses at 2 and 4 months, the 12-week dose disappears, and the booster is brought forward from 15 to 12 months, at the same visit as the first MMR dose. The last PCV13 pneumococcal dose shifts from 12 to 15 months for infants under 12 months on 1 November (13 months for babies born before 37 weeks), and the full move to PCV20 is not part of it. On the Flemish pages read on 11 October 2026, the current ages are unchanged, with no announcement and no date: Kind en Gezin continues with the current schedule. For babies already mid-schedule, the programme published transition rules for professionals in September 2026, and an article for parents: under those rules, the four-dose schedule remains necessary if the first two doses were given less than 8 weeks apart. You have nothing to do yourself, the doses already given stay valid and are not repeated, you keep the planned appointments and the professional adapts the calendar. If in doubt, bring the vaccination booklet and ask your ONE consultation or your doctor.

Are my child's vaccines free?

Yes, with one exception. Programme vaccines are supplied free by the community and given at no charge at the Kind en Gezin consultations in Flanders and the ONE consultations in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The vignettes in the health booklet give access to those same free vaccines from the healthcare provider of your choice: your GP or paediatrician can therefore administer them, with the vaccine ordered through Vaccinnet in Flanders or e-vax on the French-speaking side. The CLB school doses are free as well. The exception is rotavirus: it does not enter the vignette circuit, you buy it at the pharmacy on prescription and your health insurance fund reimburses a large part of it. The adolescent meningococcal ACWY vaccine, around 15-16 years, is also recommended but outside the free programme.

Where can I find the vaccines my child already received?

It depends on the community. In Flanders every dose is recorded in Vaccinnet, the database run by Kind en Gezin and the Departement Zorg, and parents or legal guardians can consult the registered vaccinations of a child under 16 through Mijngezondheid and its mobile app, under "Mijn vaccinaties". In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation the vaccinator records doses in e-vax, but vaccination data is reported as unavailable to parents through MaSanté in Wallonia and Brussels in the sources reviewed; the ONE can, however, provide you with a vaccination certificate, a blank record or the missing dates. In both cases, registration is the legal responsibility of the vaccinating provider, never yours.

What does the Kind en Gezin or ONE vaccination schedule contain?

Until 31 October 2026 the infant core is identical in both communities: hexavalent (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib, hepatitis B) at 8, 12 and 16 weeks then a booster at 15 months, pneumococcus at 8 and 16 weeks then at 12 months, MMR at 12 months, meningococcal ACWY at 15 months, and oral rotavirus from 8 weeks. From 1 November 2026 the Wallonia-Brussels Federation gives the hexavalent vaccine at 2, 4 and 12 months and the last pneumococcal dose at 15 months, while the Flemish pages read on 11 October 2026 keep the current ages. Further differences appear afterwards: the second MMR dose is given at 24 months in Flanders, but around 7-8 years in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The DTaP-IPV booster falls in the 1st year of primary school everywhere, after which HPV and the dTpa booster follow different school years depending on the community. Our calendar tool maps all of this onto your child's real dates, region by region.