Routine infant haemoglobin screening in the Oman schedule

What it is

The 2020 Child Immunization Schedule in the Sultanate of Oman carries two lines that are not vaccines at all. A routine checkup of Haemoglobin falls at 9 months and again at 18 months, written on the card among the vaccine lines. Every line of the card is recorded the same way, with a Given Date, a Due Date, the Age and the Vaccine, so the haemoglobin check is dated on the card as a dose is.

Where the two checks sit on the card

The lines around them fix the two dates, and the card reads in this order:

• At Birth: BCG, and HBV, which is given immediately after delivery within 24 hours of birth and carries a Yes or No box beside it
• At 2 months: Hexa-1 (DTaP, Hep-B, Hib, IPV) and PCV13-1
• At 4 months: Hexa-2, bOPV-1 and PCV13-2
• At 6 months: Penta (DTwP, Hep-B, Hib) and bOPV-2
• At 9 months: Routine checkup of Haemoglobin, and nothing else on the line
• At 12 months: Vit. 'A' 100,000 IU, MMR-1 and Varicella
• At 13 months: PCV13-Booster and HAV-1
• At 18 months: MMR-2, DTwP Booster, bOPV Booster, Vit. 'A' 200,000 IU, and Routine checkup of Hemoglobin
• At 24 months: HAV-2

So the 9-month line carries the checkup alone, between the 6-month line with Penta and bOPV-2 and the 12-month line with Vit. 'A' 100,000 IU, MMR-1 and Varicella. The 18-month line carries the checkup last, under MMR-2, the DTwP booster, the bOPV booster and Vit. 'A' 200,000 IU, and the line after it, at 24 months, holds HAV-2 alone.