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.
  • 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

• 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:
  • Personal risk of severe COVID-19
  • Risk of COVID-19 in a family or household member or other close contact
  • Local levels of COVID-19 illness

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

For most people the minimum interval between their last 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccine dose and their 2024–2025 vaccine dose is 2 months. However, there are exceptions for those who are completing an initial vaccination series, including children aged 6 months–4 years, those with moderate to severe immunocompromise, and people receiving a Novavax initial series. For more information about intervals for those specific circumstances, please 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.