Health Screenings and Immunizations

Recommended Immunizations For Adults 50+

The content in this section on recommended immunizations comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To find out more, visit How Vaccines Prevent Disease.

Vaccines, Vaccinations, and Immunizations

Understanding the difference between vaccines, vaccinations, and immunizations can be tricky. Below is an easy guide that explains how these terms are used.

• A vaccine is a product that produces immunity from a disease and can be administered through needle injections, by mouth, or by aerosol.
• A vaccination is the injection of a killed or weakened organism that produces immunity in the body against that organism.
• An immunization is the process by which a person or animal becomes protected from a disease. This term is often used interchangeably with vaccination or inoculation.

How Vaccines Work

Vaccines contain the same germs that cause disease. (For example, measles vaccine contains measles virus.) But they have been either killed or weakened to the point that they don’t make you sick. Some vaccines contain only a part of the disease germ.

A vaccine stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease without having to get the disease first.

This is what makes vaccines such powerful medicine. Unlike most medicines, which treat or cure diseases, vaccines prevent them.

Immunizations for Adults 50+

Here is a list of immunizations adults 50 and older should consider.

• Get a flu shot every year. Over 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations occur in people 65 years and older. Get more information about the flu vaccine from Vaccines.gov

• Get a shot for tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough. Get a tetanus booster if it has been more than 10 years since your last shot. Learn more at Vaccines.gov.

• If you are 60 or older, get a shot to prevent shingles. Even if you have had shingles, you can still get the shingles vaccine to help prevent future occurrences of the disease. Learn more about shingles prevention.

• People 65 years or older need a series of two different vaccines for pneumococcal disease. Talk with your health care team about how to schedule them. Be sure to let the team know if you have ever had a pneumococcal vaccine before. Learn more at Vaccines.gov.

(Watch the video to learn more about immunizations for adults 50 and older. To enlarge the video, click the brackets in the lower right-hand corner. To reduce the video, press the Escape (Esc) button on your keyboard.)

Talk with your health care team about whether you need other vaccinations. You can also find which ones you need by going to Vaccines and Immunizations. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

See this chart listing vaccinations for adults: 2015 Recommended Immunizations for Adults by Age. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)