Hi, MarieK. I had a friend call a couple of places to find out the answer to your question.
Basically, the hospitals give the initial vaccines at birth. As you can imagine, it is assumed that all babies will be vaccinated. However, it is not a requirement. After the initial vaccines given at birth, the parents are responsible for keeping current with the children's vaccine schedule. Since you do not vaccinate, you will need to be very clear from the beginning that you do not want your child to get the initial vaccinations.
My friend called a the local Disease Control Center (in Qingdao). Below are some specific questions and answers:
What are the vaccine requirements for Foreigners and Chinese?
For foreigners, no obligatory requirement. Parents decide for their own children. For Chinese, not compulsive either. However, it's strongly recommended by the government to have the vaccines for all the babies, Chinese and foreign, and the vaccines are free. Also, if children need to go to a Chinese kindergarten or school, they will need to see the vaccine records.
Is it possible to accept some vaccines, but not others?
Yes, you can skip some if you want. Actually, when you go to get the vaccines, you are given an "agreement book" about all the vaccines and you can decide whether or not, and what kind of vaccines to get, and sign your name after each vaccine. If you don't want to get certain kinds, don't sign. (Currently in China, the "default" vaccines are free, but if you want to choose to pay, you can get the imported ones (e.g. for Poliomyelitis, OPV is free, IPV is 198 yuan each dose and has to be reserved.)
Is it possible to delay any or all vaccines until a different time, for example, in order to use a different hospital?
You can wait till later. But you need to inform the hospital early, or they will just do it.
Hope this is helpful!
Maybe others can share their experiences.
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