Babies get 80 different vaccines.

The claim that babies receive 80 different vaccines conflates the number of vaccine doses or antigens with the number of distinct vaccines. According to multiple reliable sources, babies today may receive around 15 to 16 vaccine shots by age 2, which protect against roughly 14 to 16 diseases. Some sources mention that children might receive up to about 70 doses in total over many years, but these doses are not all unique vaccines; many are multiple doses of the same vaccine or combination vaccines that protect against several diseases at once.

For example, the American Academy of Family Physicians and CDC immunization schedules show a series of vaccines given at specific ages, including combination vaccines like DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), IPV (polio), Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), hepatitis B, pneumococcal conjugate, and others. These schedules do not approach anywhere near 80 distinct vaccines for babies.

Sources also clarify that while the number of vaccine doses has increased compared to past decades due to protection against more diseases, the antigen load in modern vaccines is lower than before. The confusion often arises from counting each dose or each antigen separately rather than counting distinct vaccines.

Therefore, the statement that babies get "80 different vaccines" is misleading and inaccurate based on current immunization schedules and expert explanations.