MMR: The Free Vaccine Covers Two of the Three

The short answer

The vaccine your child gets free at a government centre is MR — measles and rubella. Two doses, at 9 to 12 months and again at 16 to 24 months. It is a good vaccine and it has worked: measles cases in India fell by around 73% in 2024 compared with the year before.

MMR is a different vaccine. The extra M is mumps, and mumps is not in the national programme at all.

That matters more this year than it did five years ago, because mumps outbreaks have been reported across several Indian states, and Indian public health journals are now openly calling for MMR to be added to the government schedule.

The schedule we follow here gives MMR at 9 months, 15 months, and again at 4 to 5 years. ₹1,000 a dose, vaccine and administration included — ₹3,000 for the full childhood course.

We vaccinate adults too, and rubella immunity before a planned pregnancy is the most useful adult reason to have it.

It is a live vaccine, which means there are people who should not have it — pregnant women, and anyone significantly immunosuppressed. That list is short and it is set out below.

And no, it does not cause autism. That question deserves a proper answer rather than a brush-off, and it gets one further down.

Paediatric consultations at All Is Well Medical Centre, Vasant Kunj. Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM. Appointments only — call 8800844793.

Three diseases, and why each one is in there

They are bundled together for convenience, but they are in the vaccine for three quite different reasons.

Measles — the one that is genuinely dangerous

Measles is not a rash with a fever. It is one of the most contagious infections known, and in a country where it still circulates it kills children.

The complications are the problem. Pneumonia is the commonest. Encephalitis — inflammation of the brain — affects around one in a thousand cases and can leave permanent damage. Measles also suppresses the immune system for months afterwards, which is why children who recover often catch something else soon after.

And there is a late complication that most parents have never heard of. Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a progressive brain disease that appears seven to ten years after the original measles infection. It is rare. It is untreatable. It is fatal. And it is more likely in children infected under the age of two — which is precisely the age group the first dose is designed to protect.

That is the fact that changes minds about measles being "just a childhood illness".

Rubella — the vaccine is not really for your child

Rubella in a child is usually mild. A rash, a mild fever, some swollen glands, over in a few days.

The reason it is in the vaccine is pregnancy. If a woman catches rubella in early pregnancy, the virus crosses to the baby and can cause congenital rubella syndrome — deafness, blindness, heart defects, developmental problems. It is one of the most preventable causes of childhood disability there is.

So vaccinating a child against rubella protects two people: the child, a little, and some future pregnancy, a great deal. That is why boys are vaccinated against it too.

Mumps — the one the free vaccine leaves out

Mumps causes the swollen jaw most people picture, and in most children it passes.

Its complications are less well known. Orchitis — painful swelling of the testicles — affects a significant minority of boys who get it after puberty, and in a small number of cases it affects fertility. Mumps is also among the more common causes of acquired hearing loss in childhood, usually in one ear and usually permanent. Meningitis and pancreatitis happen less often but they happen.

Mumps is not in the Universal Immunisation Programme. A child who has only had the free MR vaccine has no protection against it.

The schedule we follow

9 months — first dose.

15 months — second dose.

4 to 5 years — third dose.

The first dose is given earlier in India than in many Western countries, where it is usually 12 months. That is deliberate: measles circulates more here, so the protection is needed sooner. The trade-off is that a dose given at 9 months does not take as reliably as one given later, which is exactly why the second dose exists.

The second dose is not a booster in the usual sense. It is a second attempt. A small proportion of children do not respond to the first dose, and the second catches most of them. A child who has had only one dose is partly protected; a child who has had two is very well protected.

If doses have been missed, you almost never start again. Catch-up schedules exist. Bring the card in.

What it costs

₹1,000 a dose, and that includes both the vaccine and giving it. There is no separate charge for the appointment when you come for a vaccination.

The childhood course is three doses — ₹3,000, spread across roughly five years.

An adult catching up usually needs two doses four weeks apart — ₹2,000.

It is worth putting that next to the alternative honestly. The free MR vaccine at a government centre covers measles and rubella, it works, and it costs nothing.

What ₹3,000 over five years buys is mumps — a disease the national programme does not cover at all, and one currently causing outbreaks across several Indian states.

That is a different kind of decision from most free-versus-private vaccine choices, where the paid version is a somewhat broader take on the same protection. Here you are not buying a better version of the same thing. You are buying a third disease that the free vaccine does not touch.

What to expect afterwards

Most children are fine.

In the first day or two: soreness where the injection went in, sometimes a mild fever.

Between day five and day twelve — and this surprises parents: a mild fever, occasionally a faint rash, sometimes slightly swollen glands. This is not an infection and it is not a reaction to something else. It is a live vaccine, and what you are seeing is a very mild, non-contagious version of the immune response the vaccine is supposed to produce. It passes.

Knowing the timing in advance saves a great deal of worry, because a fever a week after a vaccination looks alarming if you were expecting any reaction to happen the same day.

Call us if the fever is high and not settling, if your child seems unusually drowsy or difficult to rouse, if there is a rash that does not fade when pressed, or if anything simply seems wrong to you. That last one is not a lesser reason.

Who should not have it

MMR is a live vaccine. For most people that is unremarkable, but it means a short list of exceptions that matter.

Pregnancy. MMR is not given during pregnancy, and women are advised to avoid becoming pregnant for a month after a dose. If you are planning a pregnancy and are not sure whether you are immune to rubella, that is worth checking before rather than after — a blood test answers it.

Significant immunosuppression. Children on chemotherapy, on high-dose steroids, or with certain immune conditions. Their doctor will advise, and the answer is sometimes to vaccinate the family around them instead.

Recent blood products or immunoglobulin. These can stop the vaccine working, so timing needs checking.

A severe allergic reaction to a previous dose. Rare, but it means the next dose needs discussing rather than simply booking.

An ordinary cold, a mild fever, a course of antibiotics, or a family history of anything are not reasons to postpone.

Does MMR cause autism?

No. And this deserves more than a one-word answer, because the question did not come from nowhere.

In 1998 a paper was published in a British medical journal suggesting a link between MMR and autism in twelve children. It was later found that the data had been altered, that the author had undisclosed financial interests, and that the study was fraudulent rather than merely mistaken. The journal retracted it. The author was struck off the medical register in the United Kingdom and no longer practises.

Since then the question has been examined in studies covering millions of children across many countries, precisely because the claim was taken seriously enough to warrant it. No link has been found — not to MMR, and not to the timing or number of doses.

What did become clearer along the way is why the belief took hold. The signs of autism typically become apparent in the second year of life, which is around the same age children receive their MMR doses. Two things happening in the same months feel connected, and human beings are built to notice that. It is an entirely understandable inference. It is just not what the evidence shows.

If this is your worry, say so at the appointment. It is a reasonable thing to ask about and we would much rather talk it through than have you quietly not come back.

Adults

We vaccinate adults, and we are asked about this more often than most people would expect.

If you are planning a pregnancy and do not know whether you are immune to rubella, ask. This is the single most valuable adult use of this vaccine. A blood test settles it. If you are not immune, vaccination beforehand is straightforward — with the month's wait afterwards before trying to conceive.

Doing it before rather than during is the whole point: once you are pregnant, the vaccine has to wait, and rubella in early pregnancy is the thing it exists to prevent.

If you never completed your childhood doses, catch-up is possible at any age — usually two doses, four weeks apart. Worth doing in any case, and particularly if you work with children, work in healthcare, or are about to travel.

If you were born before routine vaccination was widespread, you may well have natural immunity from having had the illness as a child. If you are not sure, a blood test can confirm it rather than leaving you to guess.

If you are already pregnant, MMR waits until after delivery. It is safe while breastfeeding.

Getting it done

Bring the vaccination card to every appointment. If it has been lost, bring whatever you have — a partial record is far better than starting from an assumption.

All Is Well Medical Centre Shop no. 1, Central Market, Sector B Rd, opposite Vasant Square Mall, Masoodpur, Sector B, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110070

Monday to Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM. Appointments only — please call 8800844793 or book online before you come.

This article is general information and not a substitute for a consultation. Which vaccines a particular child needs, and when, is a decision to make with a doctor who has the child's record in front of them.

Reviewed by Dr. Mannat Verma, MBBS, MD (Paediatrics), Fellowship in Neonatology — All Is Well Medical Centre, Vasant Kunj. Last reviewed: 9 September, 2026

Contact

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Shop no. 1, Central Market, Sector B Rd, opposite Vasant Square Mall, Masoodpur, Sector B, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, Delhi 110070

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