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• Meningococcal conjugate or MenACWY vaccines
• Serogroup B meningococcal or MenB vaccines
• Pentavalent or MenABCWY vaccine

CDC recommends meningococcal vaccination for all preteens and teens. In certain situations, CDC also recommends other children and adults get meningococcal vaccines. Below is more information about which meningococcal vaccines, including booster shots, CDC recommends for people by age.

Talk to your or your child’s doctor about what is best for your specific situation.

HPV vaccination is recommended at ages 11–12 years. HPV vaccines can be given starting at age 9 years. All preteens need HPV vaccination, so they are protected from HPV infections that can cause cancer later in life.

Teens and young adults through age 26 years who didn’t start or finish the HPV vaccine series also need HPV vaccination.

CDC recommends that 11- to 12-year-olds receive two doses of HPV vaccine 6 to 12 months apart.

• The first dose is routinely recommended at ages 11–12 years old. The vaccination can be started at age 9 years.
• Only two doses are needed if the first dose was given before 15th birthday.

• Children aged 9 through 14 years who have received two doses of HPV vaccine less than 5 months apart will need a third dose.
• Three doses are also recommended for people aged 9 through 26 years who have weakened immune systems.

• Some adults age 27 through 45 years who are not already vaccinated may decide to get HPV vaccine after speaking with their doctor about their risk for new HPV infections and the possible benefits of vaccination for them.
• HPV vaccination in this age range provides less benefit, because more people in this age range have already been exposed to HPV.

Tell your doctor about any severe allergies. Some people should not get some HPV vaccines if:

• They have ever had a life-threatening allergic reaction to any ingredient of an HPV vaccine, or to a previous dose of HPV vaccine.
• They have an allergy to yeast (Gardasil and Gardasil 9).
• They are pregnant.

Three HPV vaccines—9-valent HPV vaccine (Gardasil 9, 9vHPV), quadrivalent HPV vaccine (Gardasil, 4vHPV), and bivalent HPV vaccine (Cervarix, 2vHPV)—have been licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All three HPV vaccines protect against HPV types 16 and 18 that cause most HPV cancers.

Since late 2016, only Gardasil-9 (9vHPV) is distributed in the United States. This vaccine protects against nine HPV types (6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58).

HPV vaccination works extremely well. HPV vaccine has the potential to prevent more than 90% of HPV-attributable cancers.

• Since HPV vaccination was first recommended in 2006, infections with HPV types that cause most HPV cancers and genital warts have dropped 88% among teen girls and 81% among young adult women.
• Fewer teens and young adults are getting genital warts.
• HPV vaccination has also reduced the number of cases of precancers of the cervix in young women.
• The protection provided by HPV vaccines lasts a long time. People who received HPV vaccines were followed for at least about 12 years, and their protection against HPV has remained high with no evidence of decreasing over time.

Vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects. Many people who get HPV vaccine have no side effects at all. Some people report having very mild side effects, like a sore arm from the shot.

The most common side effects of HPV vaccine are usually mild and include:

• Pain, redness, or swelling in the arm where the shot was given
• Fever
• Dizziness or fainting (fainting after any vaccine, including HPV vaccine, is more common among adolescents than others)
• Headache or feeling tired
• Nausea
• Muscle or joint pain

HPV vaccine may be available at doctor offices, community health clinics, school- based health centers, and health departments.

If your doctor does not stock HPV vaccine, ask for a referral.

You can also contact your state health department to learn more about where to get HPV vaccine in your community.

Most health insurance plans cover routine vaccinations. The Vaccines for Children (VFC) program also provides vaccines for children 18 years and younger who are uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, or Alaska Native.

Source: CDC

Flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses that infect the nose, throat, and sometimes the lungs. It can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. The best way to prevent flu is by getting a flu vaccine each year.

Influenza (flu) can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Flu symptoms usually come on suddenly. People who have flu often feel some or all of these symptoms:

• fever* or feeling feverish/chills
• cough
• sore throat
• runny or stuffy nose
• muscle or body aches
• headaches
• fatigue (tiredness)
• some people have vomiting or diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults

Influenza viruses are spread from person to person. This can happen when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Coughs and sneezes produce virus-laden droplets that can spread through the air. Flu also can be spread when droplets from a cough or sneeze land on objects like doorknobs, light switches, etc. If others touch the objects and then touch their own mouth or nose (or someone else's mouth or nose) before washing their hands, the virus can be spread.

You can pass the flu to someone else both before and while you are sick. Adults may be able to infect others beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to five to seven days after becoming sick. Some people, especially young children and people with weakened immune systems, might be able to infect others for an even longer time.

A 2018 CDC study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases looked at the percentage of the U.S. population who got sick with flu using two different methods and compared the findings. Both methods had similar findings, which suggested that on average, about 8 percent of the U.S. population gets sick from flu each season, with a range of between 3 percent and 11 percent, depending on the season.

The same CID study found that children are most likely to get sick from flu and that people 65 and older are least likely to get sick from flu. Median incidence values (or attack rate) by age group were 9.3% for children 0-17 years, 8.8% for adults 18-64 years, and 3.9% for adults 65 years and older. This means that children younger than 18 are more than twice as likely to develop a symptomatic flu virus infection than adults 65 and older.

Influenza (flu) is a potentially serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. Every flu season is different, and flu can affect people differently, but during typical flu seasons, millions of people get flu, hundreds of thousands of people are hospitalized and thousands to tens of thousands of people die from flu-related causes. Flu can mean a few days of feeling bad and missing work, school, or family events, or it can result in more serious illness.

Complications of flu can include bacterial pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections and worsening of chronic medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, asthma, or diabetes. An annual seasonal flu vaccine is the best way to help reduce the risk of getting flu and any of its potentially serious complications. Vaccination has been shown to have many benefits including reducing the risk of flu illnesses, hospitalizations and even the risk of flu-related death. While some people who get a flu vaccine may still get sick with influenza, flu vaccination has been shown in several studies to reduce severity of illness.

Flu vaccines cause antibodies to develop in the body about two weeks after vaccination. These antibodies provide protection against flu illness. Seasonal flu vaccines are designed to protect against the influenza viruses that research indicates will be most common during the upcoming season. All flu vaccines in the United States are “quadrivalent” vaccines, which means they protect against four different flu viruses: an influenza A(H1N1) virus, an influenza A(H3N2) virus, and two influenza B viruses.

Despite the many benefits offered by flu vaccination, only about half of Americans get an annual flu vaccine. During an average flu season, flu can cause millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths. Many more people could be protected from flu if more people got vaccinated.

Flu vaccination during pregnancy helps protect pregnant people from flu during and after pregnancy and helps protect their infants from flu in their first few months of life.

• A 2013 study showed that during the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 flu seasons vaccination reduced the risk of flu-associated acute respiratory infection in pregnant people by about one-half.
• A 2018 study showed that getting a flu shot reduced a pregnant person’s risk of being hospitalized with flu by an average of 40% from 2010-2016.
• A number of studies have shown that in addition to helping to protect pregnant people from flu, a flu vaccine given during pregnancy helps protect the baby from flu for several months after birth, when babies are too young to be vaccinated.

Certain people are at greater risk for serious complications if they get the flu. This includes older people, young children, pregnant people and people with common health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease.

The severity of flu seasons varies widely from one season to the next. The number of flu-associated deaths in the United States usually ranges from 3,000 to 49,000 deaths per year but can be much higher if a new strain develops to which no one is immune.

The severity of flu season depends on many things, including:

• What flu viruses are spreading
• How much ful vaccine is available
• When the vaccine is available
• How many people receive the vaccine
• How well the flu vaccine is matched to flu viruses that are causing illness

Complications of flu can include pneumonia, ear infections, sinus infections, dehydration and worsening of chronic medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, asthma or diabetes.

The single best way to prevent the flu is to get a flu vaccine each season. There are several flu vaccine options for the 2023-2024 flu season. This season, all vaccines are quadrivalent. The quadrivalent vaccines are made to protect against four flu viruses: an influenza A (H1N1) virus, an influenza A (H3N2) virus, and two influenza B viruses.

Yearly flu vaccination should begin soon after flu vaccine is available and, ideally, by October. However, getting vaccinated even later can be protective, as long as flu viruses are circulating. While seasonal influenza outbreaks can happen as early as October, influenza activity most often peaks in January or later. Since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body that protect against influenza virus infection, it is best that people get vaccinated to be protected before influenza begins spreading in their community.

Everyone 6 months of age and older should get a flu vaccine every season. This recommendation has been in place since Feb. 24, 2010, when CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted for "universal" flu vaccination in the United States to expand protection against the flu to more people. Vaccination to prevent influenza is particularly important for people who are at high risk of serious complications from influenza.

The flu vaccine is offered statewide throughout flu season at many locations, including your doctor's office, pharmacies, grocery stores with pharmacies and also at numerous Department of Health facilities. The Department of Health offers flu vaccines to those who are uninsured and underinsured. Those interested in receiving a flu vaccine should call 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258) or their local state health center to schedule an appointment. A parent/legal guardian must accompany children who are receiving the flu vaccination. Department of Health staff will need to be notified prior to the appointment if someone other than the child’s parent/legal guardian will be accompanying them.​

Try some of these flu vaccine finders:

• vaccines.gov
• American Lung Association Flu Clinic Finder

The best place to start is to consult your family physician about how you can receive the flu vaccine. For more information regarding flu vaccine availability for High Risk Individuals, please call 1-877-PA-HEALTH.​

Yes, you should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine even if you’ve already had and recovered from COVID-19. People who already had COVID-19 and do not get vaccinated after their recovery are more likely to get COVID-19 again than those who get vaccinated after their recovery.

COVID-19 can make children and teens very sick and sometimes requires treatment in a hospital. Getting children and teens vaccinated against COVID-19 can help keep them from getting really sick if they do get COVID-19, including protecting them from short and long-term complications and hospitalization.

Although COVID-19 vaccines were developed quickly, research and development on vaccines like these has been underway for decades. All vaccine development steps were taken to ensure COVID-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness, including clinical trials, authorization and approval, and tracking safety using vaccine monitoring systems.

Vaccine ingredients vary by manufacturer. None of the vaccines contain eggs, gelatin, latex, or preservatives.

COVID-19 vaccines are working well to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Compared to people who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations, unvaccinated people are more likely to get COVID-19, much more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, and much more likely to die from COVID-19.

Yes, COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to get pregnant now, as well as people who might become pregnant in the future.

People who get a COVID-19 infection during pregnancy are more likely to deliver a preterm (born earlier than 37 weeks of pregnancy) or stillborn infant and may also be more likely to have other pregnancy complications.

People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may get additional doses of updated COVID-19 vaccine 2 or more months after getting the last updated COVID-19 vaccine.

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which are mRNA vaccines, and the Novavax vaccine, which is a protein subunit vaccine.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines affect or interact with our DNA.

For adults, Moderna and Pfizer are a single dose.

For children 5 and younger, Moderna is a two-dose series and Pfizer is a three-dose series.

For moderately or severely immunocompromised adults, additional doses may be recommended, and people who fall into these categories should discuss COVID-19 dosing with their primary care provider.

The updated Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines use the XBB strain of Omicron as the targeted virus for the new formulation. The XBB strain has been widely circulating for most of 2023.

While the updated vaccine is not technically considered a booster, it may be referred to as a booster in media reports and elsewhere. However, we foresee the COVID vaccine becoming an annual vaccine, just like the flu vaccine.

All of the available COVID-19 vaccines have shown similar efficacy in studies.

Yes. Prior COVID vaccination is not an eligibility requirement.