Every August is dedicated to National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), which is designed to highlight the importance of immunizations.  Though it is September – we still need to remain cognizant of what vaccines we need.

Vaccines are not just for kids.
Adults can protect themselves from serious diseases such as pneumonia, flu, shingles, or whooping cough. If you have a preexisting condition, such as diabetes, for example, getting the flu can make it harder to control your blood sugar (glucose). Therefore, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all adults should speak with their primary care physicians to make sure they are up to date on doctor recommend vaccines.

AARP put together an informative article on

Vaccines You’ll Need After 50

Written by  by Barbara Stepko, August 26, 2019 

An excerpt from the article: “Getting up to date on the necessary vaccines can have other benefits, too. “There are new vaccines that have come out in the past several years, specifically aimed at older adults,” says Morgan Katz, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 

In the article you will see four vaccinations every adult needs:

Influenza vaccine
Who needs it: All adults, no matter what their age.

Pneumococcal vaccine (pneumonia)
Who needs it: Healthy adults 65 years and older, or adults 19-64 with certain risk factors (smoking, or health problems, such as chronic lung or heart disease, leukemia, lymphoma or alcoholism).

Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccine and/or the Td (tetanus, diphtheria) booster 
Who needs it: The Tdap vaccine came out in 2005, and along with protecting against tetanus and diphtheria, like the vaccine it replaced, it also includes new, additional protection against whooping cough, also known as pertussis. If you can’t remember ever getting this shot, you probably need it. And doing so, says Katz, can also count for one of the Td boosters you’re supposed to get every 10 years. (You know the one … it’s the shot you wonder if you’re current on after you step on a rusty nail during your vacation.)

Shingles (herpes zoster) vaccine 
Who needs it: The CDC recommends that everyone 50 and older get the new shingles vaccine, Shingrix, even if they had the earlier recommended vaccine, Zostavax — which was much less effective — and even if they’ve already had shingles.

AARP also offers a great quiz style guide on what vaccines people over 50 need.

• QUIZ: WHAT SHOTS DO YOU NEED? Test your smarts on vaccines for older adults. Check it out: Click here