Adult Vaccination: What to Do, in Order

The immunisations offered to adults, by age and by condition. Adults assume vaccination is a childhood matter, and several of the most important ones are offered later.

Key takeaways

• Annual flu vaccine: over 65, pregnant women, long-term conditions, carers
• Pneumococcal: usually a single dose at 65, earlier for some conditions
• Most useful single change: Ask your GP practice to review your vaccination record.
• Commonest mistake: Assuming childhood vaccination covers you for life.
• See a doctor if any of the signs under "When to speak to a doctor" below apply to you.

Do

• Ask your GP practice to review your vaccination record
• Arrange MMR catch-up if you are unsure whether you had two doses
• Plan travel vaccinations several weeks in advance
• Use pharmacies, which offer several vaccines without an appointment

Do not

• Assuming childhood vaccination covers you for life
• Leaving travel vaccines until the last week
• Skipping the annual flu vaccine because you had one last year

The numbers behind the list

Those two lists follow from the published figures here.

If you change one thing

Ask your GP practice to review your vaccination record. That is the opening item above. Doing only that is still doing something.

Where to go next

• Starting Out With Adult Vaccination
• A Q and A on Adult Vaccination
• Adult Vaccination — the reference entry
• Knowing Your Numbers: Sorting the Evidence From the Noise
• The Evidence on Stopping Smoking, Without the Hype

When to speak to a doctor

Call 999 for swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, difficulty breathing or collapse after vaccination. Tell the vaccinator about allergies, immunosuppression, pregnancy or a bleeding disorder beforehand. Seek urgent advice for shingles affecting the eye.

Where this comes from

• UK Health Security Agency — immunisation schedules
• NHS — NHS vaccinations and when to have them

How this page was put together

Every figure, recommendation and warning above is taken from the guidance named in Where this comes from. Nothing on this page is inferred, summarised or generalised beyond what those bodies publish: where they give a number, it is their number, and where they are silent, so are we. Pages are rebuilt whenever the underlying record changes. Sign-off by a named clinician, where it has happened, is shown at the top of the page along with the date.

Medical disclaimer

This article is general information, not medical advice. It cannot account for your own history, medication or circumstances. Always speak to a GP, pharmacist or another qualified health professional before making changes that affect your treatment, and never delay seeking medical advice because of something you have read here. In an emergency, call 999.