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(Right) U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Xavier Langton, 559th Medical Group medic, administers a flu vaccine to U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. Justin Gray, Air Force Personnel Center, intelligence surveillance reconnaissance assignments team at the Randolph Air Force Base clinic, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas Nov. 17, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jonathan Mallard)
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Vaccines

Vaccines are critical tools in the health care arsenal, with a long, successful history of fighting or eradicating disease. Vaccines have saved more lives around the world than any other medical invention.

  • Vaccines provide a safe and effective means of countering threats to personal health and military readiness. 
  • Protect your children, protect yourself. Stay up to date. 
  • Talk to your pediatrician and primary care provider and get vaccinated today.
  • Clusters of unvaccinated and undervaccinated children can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
  • Check your COVID-19 vaccination status when going for routine vaccine assessments.
  • Vaccines aren’t just for children. Many colleges, universities, and technical schools require vaccines. Make sure you are up to date and have a record of all required vaccines.
  • Some vaccine-preventable diseases remain common in the United States. Unvaccinated people exposed to these diseases can be at risk for a serious case of the disease that might cause hospitalization or death.
  • Young children have the highest risk of a serious case of disease. Delaying or spreading out vaccine doses leaves your child unprotected during the time when they most need protection.
    • Even young children cared for at home can be exposed to vaccine preventable diseases, so it’s important to get all their vaccines at the recommended ages.
    • If your child misses some scheduled vaccine doses, there is no need to restart a vaccine series no matter how much time passed between doses.
    • Talk to your child’s health care provider about the best and quickest way to get up to date.
    • Immunizing your child protects against serious diseases like measles, whooping cough, polio, tetanus, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, influenza, and more.
  • It’s important to save and update your child’s vaccine records. You’ll likely need to provide them when you register your child for school, childcare, or an athletic team.
    • If you get most care at military hospitals or clinics, you’ll have a DOD electronic health record.
    • Depending on your separation date, your record should be available via your Patient Portal, either TRICARE Online or MHS GENESIS.
  • Everyone aged six years and older should get an updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of whether they’ve received any original COVID-19 vaccines.
    • People aged 65 years and older may get a second dose of updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
    • People who are moderately or severely immunocompromised may get additional doses of updated the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
  • Children from six months to five years old may need multiple doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be up to date, including at least one dose of updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, depending on how many doses they’ve previously received and their age.
  • COVID-19 vaccine recommendations will be updated as needed.

Graphics

Please download and share these graphics and suggested social media content on your own social media channels to participate in the conversation on Immunization Awareness.

To download high-res versions of the graphics, click an image below, and click the “open” button on the page that opens. Then, right click the image and select “save image as” and you will have the best quality version to use on your own channel.

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Last Updated: August 29, 2024
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