Update your child's vaccines before school
8/26/2024 by Robert Jacobson, M.D.
August is National Immunization Awareness Month. Are you aware that most school-aged children catch up on their vaccines due during the summer?
- Nine-year-olds are due for their first human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV).
- Eleven-year-olds are due for their first adolescent/adult tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap). They are also due for their first meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) against the ACWY strains.
- Sixteen-year-olds are due for their second MCV4 dose.
Summertime makes for easy preventive care visit scheduling. You can schedule vaccination visits either with your primary care clinician or a nurse.
Vaccines are not just for kids. Adults should be aware of what vaccines they are due for as well. All adults need a Tdap vaccine every ten years. Those turning fifty years of age need their shingles vaccine doses. Adults may also find they are overdue for vaccines that were missed in childhood. These often include the hepatitis A and B vaccines. Depending on their health or age, adults may also need the 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and the new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine.
The seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines will only be available in September or October. All of us will have to wait until then to get both of those.
Vaccines prevent a lot of disease and expense. There is no advantage in delaying. The vaccines are safe and effective, and, if you are due, you need them now. Check your patient portal to determine if you are up to date or message your primary care team for a vaccination review.
Robert M. Jacobson, M.D., is the medical director of the Primary Care Immunization Program in Southeast Minnesota. He is a physician in Community Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and practices in the Baldwin building.