Obligatory vaccinations for children

Twelve vaccinations are obligatory for children in France. Parents or guardians must make sure children receive them and it used to be possible to receive large fines for not doing so. While this is no longer the case, your child cannot go to school or a crèche without these vaccinations. If in doubt speak to your GP.

The obligatory childhood ones are:

1) Diphtheria (diphtérie) and tetanus (tétanos): ‘Primo’ vaccination at two and four months and follow up at 11 months

2)Polio (poliomyélite): as above then follow-ups at age six and then at age 11–13

3) Whooping cough (coqueluche): two months (baby and family members who have not had one for 10 years)

4) Measles (rougeole): 12 months, then second dose at 16–18 months

5) Mumps (oreillons): as for measles

6) Rubella (rubéole): as for measles

7) Hepatitis B (hépatite B): two months

8) Haemophilus influenzae B (known as Hib): as for diphtheria and tetanus

9) Pneumococcal disease (pneumocoque): two months

10) Meningococcus ACWY (méningocoque): six months then 12 months 

11) Meningococcus B: three, five and 12 months

The measles jab is combined with rubella and mumps ones in a jab known as rougeole-oreillons-rubéole. However it is possible to ask for them separately.

A major measles epidemic in 2008–2012 affected more than 24,000 people, so the vaccination remains as important as ever, the government says. Tetanus is caused by spores in soil and house dust that can infect wounds, causing painful muscle spasms; cases are now very rare, largely thanks to widespread vaccination.

Common flu kills thousands every year and those most at risk are the elderly as they can suffer heart and lung complications. Flu vaccines are free for some at-risk groups, notably people aged 65 or more and those with affections longue durée. They are usually done in the autumn. 

Anyone who wants the seasonal vaccine can get it at a pharmacy, costing under €10. In the past they had to go to a nurse or doctor to have it injected but many pharmacists now also offer this. If picked up from the pharmacy, it should be stored in a fridge until your appointment.

Following recent reforms, pharmacists are also able to provide a number of other injections, including Covid vaccines and all the recommended vaccinations for adults and for children aged 11 or more. It is possible for them to do this without a prescription.

The standard charge for an injection by a pharmacist is €60. Vaccines are reimbursed at 65% if prescribed and pharmacy injections at 70%.

What about for families moving from abroad? 

If you arrive in France with a school-age child and they have not had the obligatory vaccinations, you should talk to your GP about this. This may be the case, for example, if moving from the UK where vaccinations are not obligatory. Even if children have been vaccinated, check if the French calendar of initial jabs and boosters has been respected.

GP Roland Didonna, from Nice, said there can be a certain flexibility. For example in the UK a combined diphtheria/tetanus/polio jab is recommended at 2, 3 and 4 months then boosters at 11 months, then six years and 11–13. He said that if a couple arrived with a baby aged six months, it would most likely be appropriate to settle into the French pattern, with a booster at 11 months – although it might be possible to defer it to a year and a half.

Doses for boosters can also sometimes be adjusted depending on the initial doses that were used and the age of the child, he said. However, if the child was aged four and had a booster at three, another at six would probably not be necessary.

It is best to talk to your GP about this should you come with children. Schools ask for proof of compulsory vaccinations. To keep a record of jabs, a doctor can supply a carnet de vaccinations (vaccinations record book) and vaccinations should also be entered in a child’s carnet de santé booklet.

Vaccination is done at doctors’ or nurses’ clinics. Vaccines are reimbursed at 65% if prescribed (but are in any case inexpensive) and the delivery of the vaccination by a doctor or nurse is reimbursed at 70% if this is carried out by your GP or at 60% if it is done by a nurse with a prescription (nurses’ procedures cost only a few euros). There is no reimbursement for vaccines needed for travel such as for yellow fever or cholera.