Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines

Recommendations for Everyone Aged 5 Years and Older

Everyone aged 5 years and older ‡ should get 1 dose of an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect against serious illness from COVID-19. None of the updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccines is preferred over another.

Children aged 5 years – 11 years who are not vaccinated or have gotten previous COVID-19 vaccine(s)

Children aged 5 years – 11 years who are unvaccinated or have previously gotten a COVID-19 vaccine before September 12, 2023, should get 1 updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

People aged 12 years and older who are not vaccinated

People aged 12 years and older who are unvaccinated should get either:

• 1 updated Pfizer-BioNTech or updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, OR 
• 2 doses of updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. 

People aged 12 years and older who got previous COVID-19 vaccine(s)

People aged 12 years and older who got COVID-19 vaccines before September 12, 2023, should get 1 updated Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax COVID-19 vaccine.

‡12 years and older: People aged 12 years and older who have not previously gotten any COVID-19 vaccine doses and choose to get Novavax should get 2 doses of updated Novavax vaccine to be up to date.

Recommendations for Children Aged 6 Months—4 Years

Children Who Are Not Vaccinated

Children aged 6 months–4 years should get two or three doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine depending on which vaccine they receive.

Children Who Got Previous COVID-19 Vaccine(s)

Children aged 6 months–4 years who got COVID-19 vaccines before September 12, 2023, should get one or two doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine depending on which vaccine and the number of doses they’ve previously received.

Recommendation for People Who May Get Additional Updated COVID-19 Vaccines

People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may get additional doses of updated COVID-19 vaccines. Talk to your healthcare provider about additional updated doses.

When Are You Up to Date?

Everyone aged 5 years and older

You are up to date when you get 1 updated COVID-19 vaccine.‡

Children aged 6 months—4 years

You are up to date when you get all recommended doses, including at least 1 dose of updated COVID-19 vaccine.

People who got the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine

You are up to date when you get 1 updated COVID-19 vaccine.

About COVID-19 Vaccines

COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, and dying. As with other vaccine-preventable diseases, you are best protected from COVID-19 when you stay up to date with the recommended vaccinations.

COVID-19 vaccines recommended for use in the United States:

• Pfizer-BioNTech
• Moderna
• Novavax

COVID-19 Vaccines: 2023–2024 Updated, Bivalent, and Original

2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines

As of October 3, 2023, the 2023-2024 updated Novavax vaccine was recommended by CDC for use in the United States.

As of September 12, 2023, the 2023–2024 updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were recommended by CDC for use in the United States.

The 2023–2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines more closely targets the XBB lineage of the Omicron variant and could restore protection against severe COVID-19 that may have decreased over time. We anticipate the updated vaccines will be better at fighting currently circulating variants.

There is no preferential recommendation for the use of any one COVID-19 vaccine over another when more than one licensed or authorized, recommended, and age-appropriate vaccine is available.

2022–2023 Bivalent vaccines

As of September 11, 2023, the bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are no longer available for use in the United States.

The 2022–2023 bivalent vaccines were designed to protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5. Two COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, had developed bivalent COVID-19 vaccines.

Original vaccines

As of April 18, 2023, the original Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are no longer available for use in the United States.

As of May 6, 2023, J&J/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine  is no longer available for use in the United States.

Previous COVID-19 vaccines were called “original” because they were designed to protect against the original virus that causes COVID-19.

Getting Vaccines If You Recently Had COVID-19

If you recently had COVID-19, you still need to stay up to date with your vaccines, but you may consider delaying your vaccine by 3 months.

Reinfection is less likely in the weeks to months after infection. However, certain factors could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later, such as:

• personal risk of severe disease,
• risk of disease in a loved one or close contact,
• local COVID-19 hospital admission level,
• and the most common COVID-19 variant currently causing illness.