A handy tool to find out what vaccines you need as an adult woman

If you think getting your shots is a thing of the past, you may be wrong. Adults need vaccines too, especially because the immunity you developed from your childhood vaccinations can weaken over time. 

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has released its 2020 immunization schedule recommendations and there are important changes to the administration of the flu, HPV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningitis B, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. 

The ACIP advises that all adults, regardless of gender, receive the following vaccines: 

• flu, one dose annually

• tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap), one dose as an adult and then a booster every 10 years

• varicella (chickenpox), two doses if born in 1980 or later

• measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), one or two doses if born in 1957 or later

• herpes zoster (shingles), two doses for adults 50 years and older (recombinant vaccine) or one dose for adults 60 years and older (live vaccine)

• HPV, two or three doses depending on your age when you received your first shot

As women, the vaccines we need depend on different lifestyle factors like age, whether we’re pregnant or planning to get pregnant, or current health conditions. Want to get a customized list of the vaccines you may need, based on your personal history? Take this quick CDC assessment and discuss the list with your doctor.