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Healthy New Jersey
For the Public
For the Public
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program provides free vaccines to eligible children through participating health care providers. This ensures all children—babies, kids, and teens—can get the vaccines they need to stay protected from vaccine preventable diseases .
On this page
Who's Eligible?
Children 18 years or younger may qualify if they are:
- Uninsured
- Underinsured
- Medicaid-eligible
- American Indian or Alaska Native
What does it mean to be "underinsured"?
Underinsured means that you have insurance, but the insurance policy:
- Doesn't cover any vaccines.
- Doesn't cover certain recommended vaccines .
Underinsured children are eligible to receive vaccines only at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). FQHCs deliver high quality health care to all people regardless of their ability to pay.
Where to Get Vaccinated
Ask your child's health care provider if they are a VFC provider. Over 750 providers in New Jersey participate in the program.
If your child doesn’t have a regular health care provider, you can search for VFC providers near you using our VFC finder tool.
You can also contact your local health department, to see if they’re a VFC provider.
Will it Cost Anything?
Vaccines are free for eligible children.
Health care providers may charge for the visit or other services (like a checkup or lab test), but they cannot refuse to vaccinate your child if you are unable to pay the vaccine administration fee.
FAQs
All routinely recommended vaccines are free through the VFC program. Doctors can charge a fee of up to $24.23 for giving the vaccine. However, the doctor cannot refuse to vaccinate your child if you are unable to pay this fee.
There are many single and combination vaccines that are licensed in the US and that protect children against preventable diseases. The vaccines available through the VFC are determined by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). VFC covers any vaccines included in the pediatric immunization schedules:
- Parent version of recommended immunizations for children from birth through 6 years old [2 pages]
- Parent version of recommended immunizations for children from 7 through 18 years old [2 pages]
Diseases that are preventable by recommended childhood vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) include the following. Each disease is briefly described on the 2nd page of the above linked documents.
- Dengue
- Diphtheria
- Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
- Influenza (flu)
- COVID-19
- RSV
- Measles
- Meningococcal
- Mumps
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Pneumococcal
- Polio
- Rotavirus
- Rubella (German Measles)
- Tetanus (lockjaw)
- Varicella (chickenpox)
The CDC Vaccines and Immunizations website provides information about vaccines, including precautions and contraindications for immunization, and vaccine-preventable diseases.
You can visit the CDC Catch Up schedule for additional information.
