Thinking about fall vaccines? Doctors say there’s no time like the present

Vaccines are one of the most life-saving medical interventions ever created, yet many Americans struggle to stay up to date with their shots every year. Fewer than half of the country’s adults got a flu shot last season, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and fewer than a quarter got the most recent COVID-19 vaccine.

Experts who spoke with PBS News say regular vaccination is one of the most important ways to protect yourself against respiratory diseases, including COVID, flu and RSV. Here’s what to know about the vaccinations they recommend adults and children prioritize getting this fall.

COVID-19

COVID-19 is no longer a pandemic, but the virus is here to stay and still sending patients to the emergency room, especially undervaccinated people.

Dr. Camille Nelson Kotton, clinical director of Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, said that the vast majority of people she sees who have severe illness or who die were not up to date on their COVID vaccines.

For Americans 6 months and older, doctors say there is no time like the present to get the latest COVID shot.

The vaccines have the same backbone as the original shots, they’ve just been “adapted to better protect against actively circulating strains,” said Kotton, who formerly served on the Advisory Council on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the CDC. The new shots specifically target the prevailing circulating variant, JN.1, a subvariant of omicron.

Updated mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have been approved for children as young as 6 months old and are now available in pharmacies for most ages. Novavax has also updated its protein subunit vaccine, which U.S. regulators recently approved for everyone 12 years old and up.

These vaccines are safe and effective, doctors told PBS News. Though they may not protect against symptomatic disease, they will likely shorten the duration and diminish the intensity of the illness.

There’s also evidence the vaccines help protect against long COVID, said Dr. Amita Gupta, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Unlike flu season, COVID waves are less predictable.

“It seems like we have a summer season and then the winter season at a minimum. And occasionally, there seems to be a little bit more in between here and there,” Gupta said.

If in the past, you’ve had an adverse illness to a vaccine, Kotton recommends talking with your doctor. And the CDC says people who were recently infected “may consider” postponing their vaccine for three months. But outside of those groups, everyone should get another shot, she said.

With the original series of shots in 2021 and 2022, people were considered “fully vaccinated” after two doses, or boosted after an initial vaccine, Kotton said. But she believes we should stop thinking in terms of full vaccination. Instead adults should receive a vaccine each time the CDC recommends a new shot, most recently in August.

“You need to keep up to date on your vaccines. Otherwise, protection diminishes fairly rapidly over time,” Kotton said.

Influenza

Along with the COVID vaccine, doctors advise all Americans 6 months and older to get an annual flu shot.

In fact, Kotton and Gupta say they often recommend getting both vaccines in one appointment because it is safe and more efficient to do so.

“It’s really in the category of personal preference, but there’s no change in safety or efficacy, whether you lump [the vaccines] together or spread them out,” Kotton said.

There may even be a flu and COVID-19 combination vaccine by 2025 if Moderna is successful.

Both doctors recommend mid-September to October as the ideal window in order to be protected until March, which is typically when flu begins to subside. However, Kotton says it is most important to get your vaccines when it works best for you: it’s better late (or early) than never.

Even if you have recently contracted the flu, Kotton still advises getting a shot because there are multiple strains of influenza in circulation.

This year’s flu vaccine is trivalent, which means it protects against three strains. The CDC elected not to include one strain, influenza B/Yamagata virus, that was previously included in quadrivalent flu vaccines because it is no longer actively circulating.

The flu vaccine should be a priority for children under the age of 5, adults over the age of 65 and those with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, asthma and heart disease, as they are most vulnerable to illness, according to Gupta.

It currently comes in both an injection and a nasal spray, but Gupta says she generally recommends that people opt for the injectable vaccine since the CDC has deemed the nasal spray unsafe for some populations, including those above the age of 50, pregnant people, children under the age of 2 and those with chronic medical conditions or weakened immune systems.

The CDC estimates that the flu hospitalized as many as 830,000 people and caused as many as 72,000 deaths in the U.S. from October 2023 to June 2024.

RSV

Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, typically presents with mild, cold-like symptoms. But it can be fatal for elderly and immunocompromised individuals, who are at highest risk of contracting severe RSV infection.

The CDC estimates that between 60,000 and 160,000 older adults in the U.S. are hospitalized, and between 6,000 and 10,000 die due to RSV infection every year.

Adults between 60 and 74 years old with increased risk factors as well as all adults aged 75 and over should strongly consider getting a RSV vaccine this upcoming fall, according to the ACIP.

The FDA approved the first two RSV vaccines — Pfizer’s ABRYSVO and GSK’s AREXVY — in May 2023, marking a major medical breakthrough nearly 70 years after the discovery of RSV in the 1950s.

Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, mRESVIA, joined the list of FDA-approved RSV vaccines earlier this year.

Pfizer’s shot is currently the only RSV vaccine approved for pregnant people. The CDC recommends getting this shot between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy for infants to receive immunization against the virus.

All RSV vaccines are a one-time administration that can be received at any time. For those looking to get their RSV vaccine in the coming weeks, they can safely do so in the same appointment as either a COVID or flu vaccine, or both, according to Kotton.

Along with staying up to date with the vaccines recommended for your age group and medical status, Gupta advises practicing frequent hand hygiene, wearing face masks in public spaces and avoiding large social gatherings if you are exhibiting cold-like symptoms to help prevent illness transmission.

Other vaccinations to keep up to date

Besides the COVID-19, flu and RSV shots, the CDC recommends a host of other vaccines for adults, depending on age, risk factors and previous vaccinations.

Pneumonia: Recommended for all adults 65 and older, and those 65 and younger with certain underlying medical conditions or who are immunocompromised.

HPV: Adults between 19 and 26 should get either two or three doses, depending on their age and condition at initial vaccination. Adults between 27 and 45 should talk with their doctor about how many doses they need to complete the series.

Shingles: The CDC recommends all adults 50 and older get the shingles vaccine. There is currently no ACIP recommendation for pregnant people, and the CDC recommends waiting to get a shingles shot until after pregnancy. Adults between 19 and 49 may get two shots if they have other immunocompromising conditions.

Hepatitis B: Adults 18 to 59 should receive a series of two, three or four doses for hepatitis B, depending on the vaccine. Any adult 60 and older may receive a vaccine if they want, the CDC says. But adults 60 and older with certain risk factors, such as drug use, chronic liver disease or HIV infection, should especially receive a vaccine.

Tdap: Most people get their initial vaccine series against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis as children, but the CDC recommends the three shots for all adults who didn’t get a vaccine before age 11. All adults should get an additional booster every 10 years; pregnant people should get a vaccine each pregnancy, toward the beginning of their third trimester; and people with wounds that are not “clean and minor” should get a booster if their last tetanus shot was more than five years prior.

Other vaccines are available for children, people with certain risk factors and those who never got certain childhood vaccines. Consult the CDC’s recommendations or talk to a health care professional if you’re not sure what you need. To find locations near you that offer the vaccines you may need, visit vaccines.gov.