Use this vaccine checklist to help protect you and those you love from serious diseases including flu, COVID-19, RSV, and pneumonia.
Like eating healthy and exercising regularly, getting vaccinated is an important part of staying healthy. This is especially true in fall and winter when respiratory diseases become more common as people spend time indoors for school, work, and holidays. In the US, illnesses like influenza (flu), COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and pneumonia affect millions of people each year.
Anyone can get sick from these diseases, but some people are at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill. Those at higher risk include young children, pregnant women, older adults, people with chronic health conditions like diabetes, heart, lung, or kidney disease, and those with weakened immune systems. Even when vaccines don’t prevent disease entirely, they can make symptoms milder, reduce the amount of time you are sick, and help prevent the need for medical care or hospitalization.
For healthy children and adults, getting vaccinated can help you stay healthy, avoid missing school or work, and help prevent you from spreading a potentially serious disease to friends or family members who may be more vulnerable.
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) has developed a checklist you can take to your doctor’s office or pharmacy to help make sure that you and your family stay up to date on recommended respiratory vaccines:
Flu (Everyone age 6 months and older)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone age 6 months and older get a flu vaccine every year. Flu is not just a common cold. While the numbers vary, each year in the US, millions of people get sick, hundreds of thousands are hospitalized, and tens of thousands die from flu-related complications.
Flu vaccination is especially important for pregnant women, as it helps protect both mother and baby. In addition, if you are age 65 years and older or have a weakened immune system, talk with a healthcare professional about specific flu vaccines that offer extra protection.
COVID-19 (Everyone age 6 months and older)
CDC recommends that everyone age 6 months and older get an updated COVID-19 vaccine this season to help protect against new variants that are circulating.
You can get COVID-19 and flu vaccines at the same time. Like flu vaccines, COVID-19 vaccines are safe and strongly recommended for pregnant women, older adults, and people who have chronic health conditions. If you recently had COVID-19, you can delay by about 3 months, but you should get vaccinated.
RSV (Older adults, pregnant women/infants)
Although symptoms may be mild, RSV is the most common cause of pneumonia in young children and can cause hospitalization and death. RSV can also be serious for older adults, with estimates of up to 160,000 hospitalizations in US adults age 65 years and older annually.
RSV vaccination is recommended for all adults age 75 years and older, adults age 60-74 years who have certain risk factors, and pregnant women to protect their infants. For infants born to mothers who did not get an RSV vaccine while pregnant, a monoclonal antibody is recommended.
Pneumococcal disease (Young children, older adults, those with certain medical conditions)
Adults age 65 years and older and people with certain medical conditions or other risk factors are at increased risk of serious illness or death from pneumococcal pneumonia.
Pneumococcal vaccines (sometimes called pneumonia vaccines) are recommended for all children younger than age 2 years, all adults age 65 years and older, and people with certain chronic health conditions, including heart disease, lung disease (asthma or COPD), kidney or liver disease, diabetes, sickle cell disease, or other conditions and treatments that weaken the immune system.
Vaccines can help prevent the spread of disease and keep symptoms mild for those who do get sick. Talk with a trusted healthcare professional about vaccines you may need to help protect yourself and those you love. Learn more at www.nfid.org.
