My ex-boss once told me she had her dog’s immunisation schedule in her bedside-table drawer, but had no idea where her children’s cards were! Today, many paediatrician’s clinics send text messages to parents, reminding them of due vaccinations. However, an app can do more. “The app should tell you which schedule it follows (Indian Academy of Pediatrics or the American Academy of Pediatrics), should give you information on the vaccine (what it’s for, efficacy, side effects), must indicate the compulsory and optional ones. Schedules should be downloadable,” says Dr Arun Wadhwa, a Delhi-based paediatrician, referring to school and college requirements for this. He himself has plans of creating an app for his patients, so that as soon as a shot is given, it is updated on the app.
Immunize India
USP: A no-nonsense reminder service by our very own IAP
If you’re looking for a KISS-type app, this is it. Feed in the name of your child and DOB, and you’ll receive three sets of email and push notifications in the week that the vaccination is due (no SMS-es). It follows the vaccination calendar of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (which has the compulsory vaccines and a few more recommended by IAP), but not others such as influenza or chickenpox. You will have to rely on the good offices of your paediatrician to remind you on these. The app is available in 12 languages and takes your child through from 0-12 years.
Should you get it? Yes, it’s good for parents of just-born or young children. On Android and iTunes.
Vaccination Schedule
USP: Provides a logging system
Once you feed your child’s details in, a schedule automatically pops up. Unfortunately, this does not mirror the IAP schedule, and the dates seem dodgy.It has a notes section where you get to key in text (such as a reaction to a particular vaccine).
Should you get it? No, because you want the base to be right. Plus, we aren’t sure who the makers are, what the terms and conditions are, or when notifications will come to you or how. Only on Android.
VDD Baby
USP: It’s a vaccination and daily-needs reminder, along with a diary
Besides the baby’s name and birth date, they also have the gender option, useful to leave out female-only vaccines from a boy-baby chart. The chart takes your child through to 16 years and includes all the vaccines. You can change the date you want the vaccine on and set a reminder. However, the app is not smart enough to restrict date change.
Should you get it? Yes, if you want to simply log when it was done and that it’s done. The vaccines that are coming up have a red dot next to them, and those due soon have a yellow one, so that’s useful too. Only on Android.
Baby Vaccination Scheduler
USP : Gives info on the vaccination itself
It’s cute — all pink and pretty — and you get to understand what on earth your baby is getting poked for. But it only gives you until 5 years, and all you can do is really check it off the list. With each one checked off, you know the total number due and how many are done. So the day your baby is born, you can check off 4, from the 38!
Should you get it? Not another list. Can be avoided.
Vaxins
USP: You can download and email the schedule
This app means business. There’s a schedule that’s downloadable that you can also email to yourself as a pdf. If your child is older than 0 days, you can check off vaccination history and that gets filed under ‘Past’, with ‘Upcoming’ registering the future. The schedule goes up to 15 years, and there are upcoming ones too. The pdf specifies which the optional ones are as well.
Should you get it? Yes, because it’ll serve you later in life — when your child wonders whether the chickenpox vaccine was given or not. Only on Android.
