Mayo Clinic recommends new pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
4/27/2022 by Robert M. Jacobson, M.D.
Pneumococcal bacteria cause a variety of serious, invasive infections, resulting in hospitalization or death. The vaccines used to prevent these infections cover different strains of the pneumococcal bacteria. Now we have newer vaccines for adults that cover more strains that are of concern to adults.
Children will still get same vaccine as before, which is called PCV13. The "PCV" stands for pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Its brand name is Prevnar 13. The "13" signifies the number of strains of pneumococcal bacteria it defends against. It works well in this age group.
But now adults will be getting a newer vaccination at Mayo Clinic called PCV20. Its brand name is Prevnar 20. The "20" represents the strains of pneumococcal bacteria that this vaccine covers. Mayo Clinic will be recommending a single dose of this vaccine for adults who need protection against pneumococcal bacteria. This includes adults 65 and older. It also includes those ages 19 to 64 who have medical conditions or other problems that increase their risk for infection with pneumococcal bacteria. In the past, those same adults needed one to three doses of pneumococcal vaccine with one to two types of pneumococcal vaccine.
Care teams will work with adults who already have received some vaccines against pneumococcal bacteria. They may not need PCV20. Some may just need the older vaccine that had been used.
Contact your healthcare team to determine which vaccine is right for you.
Robert M. Jacobson, M.D., is medical director of the Primary Care Immunization Program in Southeast Minnesota. He is a physician in Community Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (CPAM) in Rochester, Minnesota.