Adult vaccination schedule: how to check where you stand

The protection some vaccines give does not last a lifetime, as France’s public health agency notes on Vaccination Info Service: boosters keep the immune response going. Other vaccines become useful with age, or in specific situations such as planning a pregnancy, living with a chronic condition or caring for someone vulnerable.

Getting vaccinated is a form of primary prevention: it lowers the risk of a disease occurring, without promising it never will.

The WHO compiles its routine immunization recommendations into summary tables covering every age group, as well as interrupted or delayed vaccination. They are written for national immunization managers, not for direct use by health workers: their purpose is to help each country decide on, and adjust, its own schedule.

The result is that schedules differ. In Europe, the ECDC Vaccine Scheduler shows the national schedules of every EU/EEA country side by side, based on what each country reports, and reminds readers to check official national sources for the latest guidance. A single example: France recommends a COVID-19 vaccine every autumn to everyone aged 65 and over, while the NHS in England lists it from age 75.

So the schedule that applies to you is the one published by the health authority of the country where you live. If you have moved, bring your records: a professional can compare what you have already received with what your new country recommends.

France publishes its schedule every year, issued by the health ministry after advice from the French National Authority for Health (HAS). Its simplified version, available in English from Santé publique France, sets out these milestones for adults with no particular situation:

• a diphtheria, tetanus, polio and whooping cough booster at 25, 45 and 65, then every 10 years, according to the French national health insurance;
• from 65, flu every year, COVID-19 every autumn, pneumococcal vaccination and shingles, in two doses at least two months apart, according to the page for people aged 65 and over;
• RSV, the virus behind bronchiolitis, from 75, or from 65 for people with a chronic lung or heart condition.

The same schedule includes catch-up for younger adults: two doses of MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) for anyone born from 1980, HPV up to and including age 26, and meningococcal ACWY between 15 and 24. During pregnancy, the French national health insurance recommends vaccination against whooping cough in every pregnancy, against flu in winter and against COVID-19, and RSV vaccination between weeks 32 and 36 to protect the newborn.

Milestones, not a prescription

A dose recommended for one group is not recommended for every adult. Specific recommendations come on top of these ages: in France, hepatitis B is only recommended from age 16 for people exposed to a risk. And check when the document you are reading was last updated: schedules are revised regularly.

Start with your vaccination card or booklet, certificates, consultation reports and any digital health service you use. A vaccination record is designed for this: the professional who vaccinates you writes down the vaccine name, the date, the batch number and when the next dose is due. Take it to every vaccination appointment.

Do not assume a vaccine was given because it was recommended at your age. Equally, a missing record does not mean you were never vaccinated: it means your history needs to be pieced together carefully, with a professional.

Build a clear timeline

For each vaccine you find, note its name, the disease or diseases it protects against, the date, the dose number, who gave it and which document the information comes from. Write “date unknown” rather than guessing. A clear photo of an old record helps, but keep the original. These details are most useful when they sit alongside the rest of your health history, in a personal health record.

Catch-up vaccination applies when a series was not started, finished or recorded as planned. In most cases you do not start again from scratch: you can still catch up on most vaccines you missed, says the NHS, and in France vaccination picks up where it stopped. When your history is unknown, the doctor draws up a new catch-up schedule, which may cover one or several vaccines.

Bring your timeline and ask four questions. Which doses are certain? Which recommendation applies to me? What interval should be respected? How will the next doses be recorded?

A blood test can be useful in specific cases, for instance before chickenpox vaccination in a woman who does not know whether she has had it. Whether you need one is for the professional to decide.

Before your appointment, write down anything that may matter:

• pregnancy, plans for pregnancy, or breastfeeding;
• a known severe allergy, or a reaction to a previous vaccine;
• a chronic condition, a weakened immune system or no working spleen, and the treatments you take;
• an exposed job, living in a group setting, a vulnerable relative;
• planned travel, with your itinerary.

True contraindications, temporary or permanent, are very rare and specific to each vaccine. A mild illness, even with a slight fever, does not stop you from being vaccinated; a high fever may mean postponing the dose. Never stop a treatment to get vaccinated without medical advice.

Several vaccines can often be given on the same day: giving them together does not make them less effective, and the professional knows which can be combined, such as flu and COVID-19. To arrive with all of this in hand, see our guide on how to prepare for a doctor’s appointment.

Check that the vaccine, the date and the dose number have been written in your record or your country’s digital health record. Put the date of your next booster in your calendar, without adding more medical detail than you need.

If you notice a side effect after a vaccine, tell the professional who vaccinated you and ask how to report it where you live; in France, this is done through the Signalement santé portal.

With MyTwin for patients, your medical record (lab results, imaging, reports) sits in a single app, and you can talk to a health professional, by video or in person. Your official schedule remains the reference, and the decision to vaccinate belongs to the professional.

• Relying on memory or on your year of birth.
• Following another country’s schedule, or an old one.
• Confusing a general recommendation, a risk-based one and a job-related requirement.
• Repeating or skipping a dose without professional advice.
• Stopping a treatment to get vaccinated.
• Forgetting to have the dose you received recorded.