Vaccinations Archive

In the US, widespread vaccination halted the ongoing spread of measles more than 20 years ago, but recent outbreaks have flared in over a dozen US states, leading to hospitalizations and at least two deaths. Measles is highly preventable — here's what you need to know.

In October 2024, the CDC lowered the age for healthy adults to receive a pneumococcal vaccine to 50 from 65. It also recommends a second dose of the 2024–25 COVID vaccine for people 65 and older and immunocompromised people six months after their last dose.

Avoiding germs that cause respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses is especially important during the winter months, when cases are on the rise. Learn which strategies keep you safe. 

Even if someone has never gotten the flu or COVID—or at least hasn't gotten very sick from them—there still are good reasons to get vaccines that protect against the viruses. Both the flu and COVID viruses can injure the body, making it vulnerable to new major illnesses such as heart, lung, gastrointestinal, or brain disease. But recent solid evidence has shown that vaccines not only reduce the risk of getting the flu and COVID, but also reduce the risk of developing the serious diseases associated with COVID or flu.

As children go through another school year under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents are asking what they can do to keep their children healthy. While no magic solutions can ward off every illness, parents can take steps to help children — and everyone in their household — protect their health by keeping their immune systems robust.

Side effects from the COVID vaccine like fatigue, achiness, muscle and joint pain, chills, headache, and fever are signs the body is making greater levels of antibodies, which adds extra protection against the virus, according to a 2024 study.

In 2024, RSV vaccinations are recommended for infants and young children; everyone ages 75 and older, regardless of health; and people ages 60 to 74 at increased risk for severe RSV, such as people with lung or heart disease or those who live in nursing homes.

The shingles vaccine, Shingrix, can trigger side effects such as a sore arm, achiness, fatigue, and fever. But Shingrix is highly effective at preventing painful shingles rashes and a complication called postherpetic neuralgia, which involves long-lasting nerve pain.

People who received a COVID vaccine during the first two years of the pandemic had a lower risk of developing long COVID, according to a 2024 study.

The Shingrix vaccine decreases the risk of developing shingles (herpes zoster), a painful and potentially serious condition. In some people, the reaction to Shingrix includes mild soreness, redness, swelling, or pain in the arm at the injection site. Some people also experience fatigue, headache, muscle achiness, stomach pain, nausea, fever, or chills and shivering for a day or two. Very rarely, people have an allergic reaction. There is no evidence that anything will prevent a reaction to Shingrix.