Staying Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines (2025)

What to know

Who needs a COVID-19 vaccine

Importance of staying up to date

• Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is important because:
  • Protection from the COVID-19 vaccine decreases with time.
  • COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains.

• Getting the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine is especially important if you:
  • Never received a COVID-19 vaccine
  • Are ages 65 years and older
  • Are at high risk for severe COVID-19
  • Are living in a long-term care facility
  • Are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant, or might become pregnant in the future.
  • Want to lower your risk of getting Long COVID

When are you up to date?

Children ages 6 months–4 years

• Your child is up to date when they have received all recommended doses, including at least 1 dose of the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine.

Children ages 5–11 years

• You are up to date when you have received:
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Moderna OR
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

People ages 12 years and older

• You are up to date when you have received:
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Moderna COVID-19 vaccine OR
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine OR
  • 1 dose of the 2024–2025 Novavax vaccine unless you are receiving a COVID-19 vaccine for the very first time. If you have never received any COVID-19 vaccine and you choose to get Novavax, you need 2 doses of 2024–2025 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine to be up to date.

People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised

There are different recommendations if you are moderately or severely immunocompromised; see Vaccines for Moderately to Severely Immunocompromised People.

People who recently had COVID-19

• People who recently had COVID-19 may delay getting a COVID-19 vaccine for 3 months.

• The risk of getting COVID-19 is less likely in the weeks to months following a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
• Certain factors could be reasons to get a vaccine sooner rather than later, such as:
  • Personal risk of severe COVID-19
  • Risk of COVID-19 in a family or household member or other close contact
  • Local levels of COVID-19 illness

People who recently received the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine

Most people should wait at least 2 months between their last 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccine and their 2024-2025 vaccine. However, there are exceptions for some groups completing their first vaccination series. People in the groups listed below should follow their recommended timing. These include:

• Children ages 6 months–4 years

• People who are moderately to severely immunocompromised

• People who received Novavax for their first series

For more information about these conditions see Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC

Recommended COVID-19 Vaccines

Three vaccines are available for use in the United States. There is no preference for one vaccine over the other when more than one vaccine is recommended for an age group.

• The 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccines more closely target the JN.1 lineage of the Omicron variant. COVID-19 vaccines are updated to give you the best protection from the currently circulating strains.

Content Source:

National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division