Staying Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines

Who needs a COVID-19 vaccine

Importance of staying up to date

• Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is important because:
  • Protection from the COVID-19 vaccine decreases with time.
  • Immunity after COVID-19 infection decreases with time.
  • COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains.

• Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is especially important if you:
  • Never received a COVID-19 vaccine
  • Are ages 65 years and older
  • Are at high risk for severe COVID-19
  • Are living in a long-term care facility
  • Are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or might become pregnant in the future.
  • Want to lower your risk of getting Long COVID

When are you up to date?

Children ages 6 months–4 years

• Your child is up to date when they have received all recommended doses, including at least 1 dose of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine.

Children ages 5–11 years

• Your child is up to date when they have received:
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine OR
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

People ages 12–64 years

• You are up to date when you have received:
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine OR
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine OR
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Novavax vaccine unless you are receiving a COVID-19 vaccine for the very first time. If you have never received any COVID-19 vaccine and get Novavax, you need 2 doses of 2024–2025 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine to be up to date.

People ages 65 years and older

You are up to date when you have received:

• 2 doses of any 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine 6 months apart.
  • While it is the recommended to get 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine doses 6 months apart, the minimum time is 2 months apart, which allows flexibility to get the second dose prior to typical COVID-19 surges, travel, life events, and healthcare visits

Exceptions:

• If you are receiving a COVID-19 vaccine for the first time and getting Novavax, you need:
  • 2 doses of 2024–2025 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine 3–8 weeks apart
  • A 3^rd dose of any COVID-19 vaccine 6 months later
• If you received 1 dose of Novavax vaccine before the 2024–2025 vaccine, you need:
  • A 2^nd dose of 2024–2025 Novavax vaccine AND
  • A 3^rd dose of any 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine 6 months later

People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised

There are different recommendations if you are moderately or severely immunocompromised; see Vaccines for Moderately to Severely Immunocompromised People.

People who recently had COVID-19

• If you recently had COVID-19, you may delay getting a COVID-19 vaccine for 3 months after symptoms started OR after receiving a positive test with no symptoms

• The risk of getting COVID-19 is less likely in the weeks to months following a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

• Certain factors could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later, such as:
  • Personal risk of severe COVID-19
  • Risk of severe COVID-19 in a family or household member or other close contact
  • Local levels of COVID-19 illness

Recommended COVID-19 Vaccines

Three vaccines are available for use in the United States. There is no preference for one vaccine over the other when more than one vaccine is recommended for an age group.

• The 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines more closely target the JN.1 lineage of the Omicron variant. 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains.