Moving country with a small child
We're moving to Belgium. Do our children have to start their vaccinations again?
The short answer
In almost every case, no. A vaccine your child received in another country is still a vaccine your child received. Doses that are properly documented are normally counted, and the work is to establish what has already been given and what is genuinely still outstanding — not to begin again.
What makes this difficult in practice is rarely the medicine. It is that the record arrives in another language, in another format, sometimes as a photograph of a booklet, and it has to be read against a Belgian schedule that is itself being updated at the moment. Two children with identical vaccination histories can end up with different advice depending on who reads the document.
So the honest answer is that this needs one person to sit down with the actual record. That is a short piece of work, and it is worth doing once, properly, before anyone gives your child another injection.
Dr Didier Decamps, paediatrician · INAMI/RIZIV 1-57038-05-690
Talk to a doctor before your next appointment if
- The record is incomplete, unreadable, or you no longer have it
- It comes from a country whose schedule you know differs substantially
- Your child has a condition or treatment affecting the immune system, or was significantly premature
- Someone has already told you to restart the whole series and you would like that checked
- A school, crèche or employer has asked for proof and you are unsure what satisfies it
This can wait for a normal appointment if
- You have a complete, legible record and nobody is asking for anything urgently
- Your child is well, and the only question is the timing of a future dose
- You have already registered with ONE.be and have a consultation booked
Emergency? Call 112. Do not wait for a reply from us.
What a doctor actually checks
Reading a vaccination record from another country is a specific task. It normally means working through:
- Which product was given, not only which disease it covers — brand names differ between countries, and so do the combinations
- The date and the age at each dose, and the interval between doses
- Whether a dose given very early still counts under the Belgian schedule
- Which doses have no Belgian equivalent, and which Belgian doses have no equivalent abroad
- What has to be entered into the Belgian vaccination register so the next clinician sees it
The result is a single reconciled list: what your child has had, what is outstanding, and in what order.
What to bring
The original vaccination booklet or card, in whatever language it is in. A photograph is usually enough to begin. If the record is lost, bring the name of the practice or clinic that vaccinated your child — records can often be requested.
How Belgium keeps the record afterwards
Vaccinations given in Belgium are entered into the national vaccination register, so the next clinician who sees your child can see what has been given. Getting the earlier history into that register is part of the same piece of work, and it is what stops the question being asked again at the next move.
Where the current Belgian schedule lives
We deliberately do not reproduce the schedule on this page. It is being updated, more than one version is in circulation, and a copy here would go out of date without warning. Read it at the source:
The official Belgian vaccination calendar (vaccination-info.be)How to start
Send us the record and tell us where you have moved from.
An assistant collects your message. A coordinator reads it. A doctor decides.
Message us on WhatsAppDrafted with AI assistance. Reviewed, edited and signed by Dr Didier Decamps.
Last reviewed: August 2026