Most of the cultural conversation about vaccines focuses on children: Which children are getting them, which children aren’t and why, and how those decisions impact the rest of the population. So if you have memories of going to a pediatrician or health clinic as a kid, you might assume that you’ve had all the vaccinations you’ll ever need. You never have to think about it again, right? Unfortunately that’s not how immunity works.
“Adults need vaccines, too, to help them protect against preventable diseases,” David Kim, M.D., M.P.H., deputy associate director for Adult Immunization in the Immunization Services Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tells SELF.
Important reminder: Getting vaccinated doesn’t just protect you from illnesses. Vaccines also provide something called herd (or community) immunity, which is what happens when enough people in a given community are vaccinated that it prevents diseases from spreading within that community. This provides protection for people in the community who aren't vaccinated for whatever reason—like babies, and people who are immunocompromised. Staying up-to-date on your vaccines throughout your life is key for both you and those around you.
What if you’re pretty sure you’ve already been vaccinated against something? Well, some of the vaccines you need as an adult are booster shots for vaccines you may have gotten as a kid, William Moss, M.D., M.P.H., executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, tells SELF. “Then there are some vaccines that are really specifically adult vaccines,” Dr. Moss says.
Below, you’ll find the vaccines doctors recommend pretty much everyone gets at various points in adulthood. (The exceptions are people who can’t get certain vaccines for medical reasons, such as being on immunosuppressive drugs that hamper the normal, totally safe response the body has in reaction to vaccines that use weakened live germs.) You’ll also find a few vaccines you may need depending on your individual circumstances, for instance if you’re going to travel internationally, are thinking of getting pregnant, or work in health care. We hope this list makes adulting a little bit easier for you.
Here are the vaccines that are routinely recommended for most adults:
If you’ve ever braced yourself for flu season, you’re probably aware of the influenza (flu) vaccine.
Since flu season happens every year like clockwork (typically starting in October and potentially lasting as long as until May), it might seem like this illness is just part of normal life. But the flu can actually be really dangerous. While standard flu symptoms involve fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, muscle aches, headaches, and fatigue, more severe complications can include pneumonia; inflammation of the heart, brain, or muscles; and even organ failure, the CDC says. While the disease is especially threatening to older people, young children, and people with compromised immune systems, healthy adults aren’t exempt from getting dangerously sick or even dying from the flu. As such, the CDC recommends that everyone over six months old gets the influenza vaccine every single year before flu season starts. (There are rare situations in which people should not get certain flu vaccines or should talk to their doctor first. You can read more about those exceptions here.)
“Even in the years when the flu vaccine is determined to be less effective, the effectiveness that we do see is enough to prevent hundreds of thousands of illnesses, tens of thousands of hospitalizations, and hundreds (if not thousands) of deaths,” Dr. Kim says. If you're curious you can read more about why—even though it's not 100 percent effective—the flu vaccine is still worth getting.
The Td vaccine protects against two possibly life-threatening illnesses: tetanus and diphtheria.
Tetanus, or lockjaw, is a potentially dangerous infection caused by Clostridium tetani bacteria, and it usually enters the body through a cut or sore, the Mayo Clinic says. Once there, it can impact your nervous system, causing muscle contractions in your neck and jaw that can make it difficult for you to breathe. For some people, this causes death.
Diphtheria is an infection caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae bacteria, according to the CDC. It’s typically transmitted through the air (such as when people cough or sneeze), and its symptoms include sore throat, fever, swollen glands, weakness, and difficulty breathing.
As a child and adolescent, you’re supposed to receive multiple doses of a vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (also known as whooping cough). This respiratory infection is caused by the bacteria Bordetella pertussis, the CDC says, and it’s generally most dangerous for babies and young children (hence the focus on getting infants, kids, and adolescents vaccinated). Anyone can develop pertussis at any age, but it can be very serious and potentially deadly for babies less than a year old, the CDC says. Pertussis often (but not always) features a very intense cough that causes difficulty breathing as well as a runny nose, congestion, watery eyes, fever, and vomiting, according to the Mayo Clinic.
If you got all your diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccines when you were younger, you can go ahead and get the CDC’s recommended Td booster every 10 years as an adult. (Unless you’re planning to become pregnant, in which case you should boost your protection against pertussis—more on that below.) If you never got a vaccine that covered all three of these diseases, then you can start with one of those, then get the Td booster every 10 years, the CDC says.
The varicella vaccine protects you against the scourge that is chicken pox. You can blame chicken pox on the varicella-zoster virus, which can pass from person to person through close contact. Chicken pox can cause a rash that transforms into wildly itchy blisters that eventually scab over, the CDC says. Other symptoms can include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, and headache.
You might think of chicken pox as some no-big-deal childhood illness, but it can happen at any age, and adults (as well as infants and pregnant people) are actually at higher risk for complications. These complications include skin infections, pneumonia, brain inflammation, and bleeding too easily, according to the CDC. In some cases, chicken pox can even kill people.
It’s currently recommended that kids get the first dose of their varicella vaccine when they’re between 12 and 15 months old, then a second dose when they are four to six years old, the CDC says. But the varicella vaccine was introduced in 1995, meaning there are some adults out there who never got vaccinated. If that applies to you and you also don’t think you actually got chicken pox (which would build your immunity to getting it again), the CDC recommends talking to your doctor about getting the vaccine. Same goes if you’re not sure you got both doses—if you only got one dose of this vaccine and never got chicken pox, the CDC’s recommendation is to get the second dose.
The zoster vaccine protects against shingles, which is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, according to the CDC. That might sound familiar because it’s also the one that causes chicken pox. If you’ve had chicken pox, the varicella-zoster virus stays in your body and may pop up again as shingles later in life, the CDC explains. It’s basically the virus making a pretty unwelcome comeback.
Shingles can cause a painful rash that may occur anywhere, though it typically appears as stripes on one side of your body, according to the CDC, along with potential symptoms like fever, stomach issues, headache, and chills. Once the rash goes away, you might have chronic nerve pain called postherpetic neuralgia, which can last for months or years and interfere with daily life. It’s the most common shingles complication, according to the CDC. And in rare cases, shingles can cause pneumonia, hearing problems, brain inflammation, and even death, the CDC says.
Two vaccines can help prevent a shingles infection: the zoster vaccine live (ZVL) and the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV), according to the CDC. The risk of getting shingles increases with age, so the vaccination recommendations focus on people 50 and up. If you’re 50 or over, the CDC recommends getting the two-dose RZV vaccine about two to six months apart, even if you’ve had shingles or the ZVL vaccine in the past. The RZV vaccine provides longer protection than the ZVL one does. However, you can talk to your doctor about using the ZVL vaccine if necessary, for example if you seem to be allergic to a component of the RZV version.
You’ve probably heard a lot about HPV, the shorthand for a group of viruses with the potential to cause cancer and genital warts. Every year in the United States, HPV causes around 33,700 cases of cancer impacting the cervix, vagina, vulva, penis, anus, and throat, the CDC says. Unfortunately, partly because HPV is transmitted way too easily through skin-to-skin contact (as opposed to primarily through bodily fluids like vaginal secretions), it’s the most common STI in the U.S.
The great thing is that an HPV vaccine is available for people up to the age of 45.
You may already have gotten vaccinated against HPV, since the CDC recommends that all children get their first dose of this vaccine at age 11 or 12. (The HPV vaccine is most effective if you get it before you’re exposed, so the aim is to have people get vaccinated before they’re sexually active, the CDC says.) If a kid gets their first dose before they turn 15, they only need one additional dose, the CDC explains. Teenagers who get the first dose on or after their 15th birthdays should get two additional doses.
If you never got an HPV vaccine as an adolescent, it’s still an option for you. The CDC used to recommend that many adults up to age 26 get the vaccine, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved Gardasil 9, the most recent version of the HPV vaccine, for people up to age 45. Gardasil 9 protects against nine different types of HPV. Even though you’re more likely to have encountered various strains of the virus by that age, it might still offer a shield against a type of HPV you haven’t yet come across. It's also worth noting that you can still get the vaccine after age 45, though insurance is unlikely to cover it. You can talk to your doctor about it to see if it's right for you.
FYI: If you previously got an older version of the HPV vaccine, it isn’t currently recommended that you get revaccinated with the new version, since older versions still protect against most of the cancer-causing types of HPV. But again, you can always talk to your doctor about getting the new vaccine if you’re curious.
Pneumococcal disease (or just pneumococcus) is the overarching term for a cluster of conditions caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, the CDC explains. It can cause all sorts of infections, with symptoms depending on the exact location affected.
According to the CDC, most pneumococcal infections are mild. There are, however, several infections that can cause serious complications. For instance, pneumococcal pneumonia can cause symptoms like fever, chills, coughing, difficulty breathing, and chest pain, according to the CDC. About 5 percent of people who get pneumococcal pneumonia will die, or perhaps even more among elderly adults, the CDC says. Another serious pneumococcal infection is meningitis, which impacts the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include stiff neck, fever, headache, sensitivity to light, and confusion, the CDC says. Around one out of every 15 children younger than five who gets pneumococcal meningitis will die from it.
As a result, the CDC recommends the pneumococcal vaccine for anyone younger than two years old, anyone 65 or older, and some people between those ages, such as those who have lung conditions that already compromise their respiratory health or those who smoke.
There are two types of pneumococcal vaccines: pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), which protects against 13 types of pneumococcal bacteria, and pneumococcal polysaccharide (PPSV23), which protects against 23 types, the CDC says. The type that’s best for you depends on your age and any health conditions you might have, so talk it through with your health care provider.
Here are the vaccines you might need as an adult:
Special circumstances might require additional vaccines on top of the ones routinely recommended for adults.
We know you've got a ton of things to think about at this point in your life, but making sure you're up to date on your meningococcal vaccines is too important to forget.
Meningococcal vaccines protect against Neisseria meningitidis. This bacteria can cause meningococcal disease, the umbrella term for a group of illnesses that can become fatal within hours, like meningococcal meningitis.
Although meningococcal meningitis has a different bacterial cause than the pneumococcal meningitis we mentioned above, the symptoms can be the same, the CDC says, including fever, headache, a stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to light, and confusion.
The other most common type of meningococcal disease, a bloodstream infection known as septicemia, can cause symptoms like fatigue, fever, chills, cold hands and feet, vomiting, quick breathing, diarrhea, intense pain in areas like the muscles and chest, and a dark purple rash, the CDC says.
So what's the college connection here? Meningococcal disease outbreaks often happen on college campuses and other areas where many people are packed pretty tightly together. The disease is transmitted through close contact, specifically respiratory and throat secretions, the CDC explains. Because of that, the CDC recommends that any first-year college student who will be living in residential housing is up to date on their meningococcal vaccinations.
There are two meningococcal vaccines: meningococcal conjugate vaccines (MenACWY) and serogroup B meningococcal vaccines (MenB). They vary based on composition, with the former guarding against four common types of meningococcal disease, and the latter offering protection against an additional one.
The MenACWY vaccine is recommended for all kids at age 11 or 12 with a booster at 16, according to the CDC, so if you've had all of those, you're up to date before heading to college. If you haven't been vaccinated for meningococcal disease, you are 16 or over, and you're going to college where you'll live with other people, it's recommended that you get one dose of the MenACWY vaccine.
The MenB vaccine is not routinely recommended for all, but the CDC does recommend it for people between the ages of 16 and 23 (though 16 to 18 is preferred), if you're at a higher risk for meningitis infections (such as if you're going off to college or if you have certain health conditions).
The CDC recommends making sure that all of your vaccinations are up-to-date before you travel. It’s not uncommon for travelers to pick up illnesses and accidentally bring them back to the United States. Many of the diseases that have been contained by vaccination programs in the United States haven’t necessarily been eradicated abroad.
In addition to making sure you’re all set with your routine vaccines, see if there are any you need based on your travel destination. Check the CDC vaccination recommendations by region to make sure that you schedule your vaccines appropriately. For instance, if you’re traveling to an area that requires a yellow fever vaccination, you need to get it at least 10 days in advance for it to be effective, the CDC says.
The CDC recommends getting vaccinated against the viral liver infections hepatitis A and B.
In adults, around 10 percent of new hepatitis A cases and 20 percent of new hepatitis B cases occur among people with penises who have sex with other people who have penises, the CDC estimates. (Both viruses can also be transmitted in other ways; you can get hepatitis A if you consume the virus through food or drinks, for example, and it’s possible to pick up hepatitis B if you, say, share a razor with someone who has it.)
Adults usually fully recover from both hepatitis A and B, but there’s also a chance that these conditions can lead to complications like liver damage. Even though hepatitis A and B vaccines are both recommended for children, if you have a penis and have sex with people who also have penises, the CDC recommends getting another two- or three-dose series of these vaccines as an adult. (You can also get revaccinated for these conditions even if you don’t have any risk factors but just want the protection.)
Since you’re exposed to more germs than the average person, the CDC recommends making sure you’ve been vaccinated for hepatitis B; measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); and varicella, along with other important vaccines, like the flu vaccine. These are overarching recommendations that can change depending on your prior vaccine history—like if you’ve already gotten your MMR vaccine, which is recommended for children—and level of immunity to these illnesses, so be sure to check in with your doctor if you’re not sure where you stand.
The CDC also suggests health care workers get a dose of a meningococcal vaccine for Neisseria meningitidis.
Much as with traveling, this is a time when the CDC emphasizes the importance of making sure you’re up to date on all your vaccinations. Not only does this help you, it can offer some protection to your baby, both in the womb and after they’re born but can’t yet receive certain vaccinations.
For example, unless you’re already immune to rubella (such as because you got your recommended MMR vaccines as a child and blood testing has shown your immunity), the CDC recommends that you get your MMR vaccine at least a month before becoming pregnant. Rubella can be dangerous for you and potentially cause a miscarriage or birth defects, according to the CDC.
You should also make sure that you’ve had your Tdap vaccine between 27 and 36 weeks of each pregnancy to best protect you and your baby from whooping cough, the CDC says. And just to clear up any confusion, it’s absolutely safe—and actually recommended—that pregnant people get the influenza vaccine. The flu is considered even more dangerous for pregnant people than those who aren’t pregnant and can be harmful to a developing baby.
Keep in mind that this isn’t a complete list. Check with your doctor to see if you need other vaccines before you get pregnant or during pregnancy.
The bottom line is that staying up-to-date on your vaccines helps you and everyone around you. Regardless of your circumstances, it’s worth it to chat with your health-care provider about which vaccines will help you stay as healthy as possible.
Also if you have approximately zero idea what you’ve been vaccinated against, don’t worry. We’ve got a whole story about how to handle that right over here.
This story is part of a larger package called Vaccines Save Lives. You can find the rest of the package here.
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