Staying Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines

What to know

  • Everyone ages 6 months and older should get a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine.
  • The COVID-19 vaccine helps protect you from severe disease, hospitalization, and death.
  • It is especially important to get your 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine if you are ages 65 and older, are at high risk for severe COVID-19, or have never received a COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Vaccine protection decreases over time, so it is important to stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccine.
Illustration of COVID-19 vaccine, vial of vaccine, calendar, and clock.

Who needs a COVID-19 vaccine

Reminder‎

Everyone ages 6 months and older should get the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine. This includes people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine before and people who have had COVID-19.

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.
    • COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains.

Keep in mind‎

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is a safer, more reliable way to build protection than getting sick with COVID-19.



Learn more about the benefits of getting a COVID-19 vaccine

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.
If your child previously had: Your child should get:
0 doses (was never vaccinated) 2 doses of the 2024–2025 Moderna vaccine
OR

3 doses of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

1 or more doses of Moderna vaccine 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Moderna vaccine
1 dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine 2 doses of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
2 or more doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Children ages 5–11 years

  • You are up to date when you have received:
    • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Moderna OR
    • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

People ages 12 years and older

  • 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 you choose to get Novavax, you need 2 doses of 2024–2025 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine to be up to date.

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

  • People who recently had COVID-19 may delay getting a COVID-19 vaccine for 3 months.
  • 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:

People who recently received the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine

Most people should wait at least 2 months between their last 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccine and their 2024-2025 vaccine. However, there are exceptions for some groups completing their first vaccination series. People in the groups listed below should follow their recommended timing. These include:

  • Children ages 6 months–4 years
  • People who are moderately to severely immunocompromised
  • People who received Novavax for their first series

For more information about these conditions see Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC

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. COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains.
Vaccine Recommended for:
2024–2025 Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Everyone ages 6 months and older
2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Everyone ages 6 months and older
20242025 Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Everyone ages 12 years and older