The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children be immunized against the following diseases in their first six years of life: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP vaccine), measles, mumps, and rubella / German measles (MMR vaccine), polio, varicella (chickenpox), meningococcal (meningococcal meningitis), pneumococcal (pneumococcal pneumonia), rotavirus, haemophilus influenzae type b and influenza (flu).

For adolescents, the recommended vaccinations depend on what vaccinations were given as children. If all the childhood vaccines were given as scheduled, the only recommended vaccines for adolescents and school-aged teens are another dose of both the DTP and meningococcal vaccines and the human papillomavirus (HPV) for females. If some vaccines were missed or started late during the childhood years, the CDC has a catch-up schedule that describes which vaccines should be taken and when.