COVID-19: Staying Up to Date with Your Vaccines
Being up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines ensures you have the best protection possible against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Learn what it means to be up to date on your vaccines.
When are you considered up to date?
You are up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines when you have completed a primary series and, when eligible, received the most recent booster dose recommended for you. If you have completed your primary series, but are not yet eligible for a booster, you are also considered up to date. The recommendations will be different depending on which vaccine you received, your age, and your health status.
- Everyone 6 months and older should get all doses in their COVID-19 vaccine primary series. Pfizer, Moderna, or Novavax COVID-19 vaccines are preferred over Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine in most situations.
- Nearly everyone 6 months and older needs an updated (bivalent) vaccine to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. The updated vaccine gives you increased protection against Omicron variants which cause most of the current COVID-19 cases.
- If you recently had COVID-19, you may consider delaying your next vaccine dose by three months from when your symptoms started or, if you had no symptoms, when you first received a positive test.
- COVID-19 vaccine and booster recommendations may be updated as CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) continues to monitor the latest data.
Vaccine guidance for most people
The guidance outlined below is for people who are not moderately or severely immunocompromised. People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised (for example, due to cancer treatment, HIV infection, medical treatments, or a medical condition like DiGeorge syndrome) have specific COVID-19 vaccine primary series and booster recommendations.
See a printableoverview of the COVID-19 vaccine guidance for everyone. You can use the CDC COVID-19 booster tool to learn if and when you can get boosters to stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 vaccine dosage is based on age on the day of vaccination, not on size or weight. Children get a smaller dose of COVID-19 vaccine than teens and adults based on the age group they belong to.
Children ages 6 months–11 years
Note: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines use different age groups for their children’s vaccines.
Children 6 months–4 years old
Second Dose
Primary Series (original, monovalent Pfizer vaccine)
Three to eight* weeks after your first dose
Third Dose
Primary Series (updated, bivalent Pfizer vaccine)
At least eight weeks after your second dose
Up to date: two weeks after the last dose in your primary series (your third dose), since a booster is not currently recommended for children in this age group
Children aged 6 months through 4 years who received three doses of the original (monovalent) Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are considered up to date and are not eligible to receive an updated (bivalent) Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dose at this time.
Children 5–11 years old
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose or last booster
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
Note: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines use different age groups for their children’s vaccines.
Children 6 months–5 years old
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
Children 6–11 years old
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
Children and teens ages 12–17 years
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose or last booster
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose or last booster
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose or last booster
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
Adults ages 18 years or older
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose or last booster
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose or last booster
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
First Dose
Primary Series
Third Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your second dose or last booster
A monovalent Novavax booster is available in limited situations.
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
First Dose
Primary Series
Second Dose
Updated Pfizer or Moderna Booster
At least two months after your first dose or last booster
Up to date: immediately after you have received the most recent booster dose recommended for you
*Talk to your healthcare or vaccine provider about the timing of the second dose that is right for you.
- People ages 6 months through 64 years may consider getting the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax eight weeks after the first dose.
- A longer time between the first and second doses may give you better protection.
- It might also reduce the already small risk of heart problems like myocarditis. This could be especially beneficial for males ages 12-39 years.
- The following people should get the second dose three weeks after the first Pfizer or Novavax dose, or four weeks after the first Moderna dose:
- People ages 65 years and older
- People more likely to get very sick from COVID-19
- Anyone wanting protection sooner (for example, if they are in an area with High COVID-19 Community Levels)
Mixing COVID-19 vaccine products
Do not mix primary series
CDC does not recommend mixing products for your primary series doses. If you received Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax for the first dose of your primary series, you should get the same product for all following primary series doses.
Novavax booster: You may get a monovalent Novavax booster if you are unable or unwilling to receive a Pfizer or Moderna updated (bivalent) COVID-19 booster and you meet the following requirements:
- You are 18 years of age or older
- You completed a COVID-19 vaccine primary series at least 6 months ago
- You have not gotten any other booster dose
Find a COVID-19 vaccine
Visit vaccines.gov, text your zip code to 438829, or call 211 to find COVID-19 vaccine and booster locations near you.
If possible, bring your white CDC COVID-19 vaccination card or a printed or downloaded summary of your immunization record.
Have you been infected with COVID-19? You still need to get a vaccine!
Getting vaccinated provides added protection for everyone, including people who already had COVID-19. Vaccines and boosters increase your protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death. They also provide extra protection against the currently circulating, more infectious strains.
But you may consider waiting three months after you tested positive or started feeling sick to get your next COVID-19 vaccine dose. Waiting three months may maximize the protection you get from the vaccine. You may be less likely to get sick with COVID-19 again during this time. Studies show that waiting this time may give you stronger, longer-lasting protection.
You may want to get vaccinated sooner after recovering from COVID-19 if you are at higher risk of getting very sick. This includes if you have a medical condition or are in an area with High COVID-19 Community Levels.
Definitions
Primary series
A primary vaccine series is the initial number of doses of a particular vaccine that a person needs. It does not include booster shots. The number of doses in a primary series is different depending on which vaccine you received, your age, and your health status. See how many primary doses you need for each vaccine in the vaccine recommendations for your age group above.
Booster doses
Similar to some other vaccines, immunity from COVID-19 vaccinations naturally starts to decrease over time. This means that COVID-19 vaccines, like many vaccines, need more than one dose to keep you protected against the virus. These extra doses are known as booster doses because they boost your immune system after your initial protection naturally wears off over time. Several studies showed that getting a booster dose improves your protection against COVID-19 and is very effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death.
Monovalent vaccines
A monovalent vaccine is designed to protect against a single antigen, or virus strain. The original COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, Novavax, and Johnson & Johnson are monovalent vaccines.
Bivalent vaccines
A bivalent vaccine is designed to protect against two different antigens, such as two different viruses or variants of viruses. There are several multivalent vaccines available in the US to protect against many diseases.
The updated COVID-19 vaccines, also known as bivalent vaccines, target the most recent Omicron subvariants. The most recent Omicron subvariants, known as BA.4 and BA.5, spread more quickly and are more likely to be able to evade antibodies made against earlier subvariants. Updated COVID-19 boosters can help restore protection that has decreased since previous vaccination and provide broader protection against newer variants.
What you should still do
Your vaccination status—and the status of those around you—can have greatly impact your daily activities. The following guidelines can help you make safe choices during social situations to ensure everyone’s safety.
- Wear a mask in counties with High COVID-19 Community Levels. Continue to wear a mask in public settings if it makes you feel safer.
- Get tested if you develop any symptoms of COVID-19 or are exposed to COVID-19.
- Stay home and follow instructions for isolation if you are diagnosed with COVID-19.
- Follow recommendations for domestic and international travel.
Immunity against COVID-19
Immunity is your body's ability to protect you from getting sick. If you are immune to COVID-19, it means you are less likely to get sick and more likely to stay healthy if you are exposed to the virus. Staying up to date with your vaccines is one of the best ways to build and maintain immunity against COVID-19.
