The NIP schedule that matches
The routine Philippine National Immunization Program (NIP) gives the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine at 9 and 12 months. This is earlier than in many high-income country schedules, which often start MMR at 12 months or later. The earlier start reflects the higher risk of measles exposure in infancy. Of the four schedules, only MMR at 9 and 12 months matches the routine NIP calendar.
How the NIP handles hepatitis B
In the NIP, hepatitis B vaccine is given as a birth dose within 24 hours, and the later hepatitis B doses are delivered within the pentavalent vaccine at 6, 10, and 14 weeks. A separate series at birth, 1 month, and 6 months is a real schedule used in other settings, but it is not the NIP pattern.
Pneumococcal and pentavalent series
The NIP gives the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) at 6, 10, and 14 weeks and the pentavalent vaccine at 6, 10, and 14 weeks, each as three infant doses with no booster in the second year. Schedules that add a 12-month PCV booster or an 18-month pentavalent booster appear in some private or foreign schedules. Watch out! The distractors in this item are not invented; each is a genuine schedule used somewhere. The task is to recognize the one that belongs to the routine NIP calendar.
| Vaccine | Routine NIP timing |
|---|
| BCG | At birth |
| Hepatitis B | Birth dose within 24 hours; later doses within pentavalent |
| Pentavalent | 6, 10, and 14 weeks |
| Bivalent oral polio | 6, 10, and 14 weeks |
| Inactivated polio | First dose at 14 weeks |
| Pneumococcal conjugate | 6, 10, and 14 weeks |
| Measles-mumps-rubella | 9 and 12 months |
Applying it at the clinic
When a mother moves from another region, the nurse reviews the card against the national calendar, credits every valid dose already given, and schedules the remaining doses. A child who received doses on a different schedule is not restarted; the nurse continues from where the child left off.
Exam takeaway
Remember the NIP anchors: three infant doses of pentavalent, oral polio, and PCV at 6, 10, and 14 weeks, and MMR at 9 and 12 months. Key point! When choices look like familiar foreign schedules, return to the Philippine calendar.