As you get older, a health care provider may recommend vaccinations, also known as shots or immunizations, to help prevent certain illnesses.
Talk with a doctor about which of the following vaccines you need. Make sure to protect yourself as much as possible by keeping your vaccinations up to date.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease that causes symptoms such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Older adults are more likely than younger people to get very sick from COVID-19. The disease can lead to serious illness and death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that older adults stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, including booster shots. Read more about COVID-19 vaccines from the CDC. Contact your local health department or visit Vaccines.gov to find out where you can get vaccinated.
Flu — short for influenza — is a virus that can cause fever, chills, sore throat, stuffy nose, headache, and muscle aches. Flu is very serious when it gets in your lungs. Older adults are at a higher risk for developing serious complications from the flu, such as pneumonia.
The flu is easy to pass from person to person. The virus also changes over time, which means you can get it again. To ensure flu vaccines remain effective, the vaccine is updated every year.
Ideally, you should get your vaccine by the end of October each year so you are protected when the flu season starts. It takes at least two weeks for the vaccine to be effective. However, if you have not received your flu vaccine by the end of October, it’s not too late — flu season typically peaks in December or January.
There are flu vaccines designed specifically for people age 65 and older. Medicare will pay for the vaccine, and so will private health insurance plans. You can get a flu vaccine at a doctor’s office or local health department, as well as at some grocery stores, drug stores, and pharmacies.
Pneumococcal disease is a serious infection that spreads from person to person by air. It often causes pneumonia in the lungs and it can affect other parts of the body. Older adults are at higher risk than younger people of getting very sick or dying from pneumococcal disease.
The CDC recommends that all adults 65 and older get pneumococcal vaccination. This vaccine will help protect you from getting a serious infection, including pneumonia. There are two types of pneumococcal vaccine available (PPSV23 and PCV13). Talk with a health care provider to find out which one is best for you, or if you need both.
Shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox. If you had chickenpox, the virus is still in your body. As you get older, the virus could become active again and cause shingles.
Shingles affects the nerves. Common symptoms include burning, shooting pain, tingling, and/or itching, as well as a rash with fluid-filled blisters. Even when the rash disappears, the pain can remain. This is called post-herpetic neuralgia, or PHN.
The shingles vaccine is safe, and it may keep you from getting shingles and PHN. Healthy adults age 50 and older should get vaccinated with the shingles vaccine.
You should get a shingles vaccine even if you’ve already had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine, or if you don’t remember whether you had chickenpox.
You can get the shingles vaccine at a doctor’s office and at some pharmacies. Medicare Part D and private health insurance plans may pay some or all of the cost. Check with Medicare or your health plan to find out if it is covered.
