Federal vaccine recommendations and state mandates only apply to children, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that adults stay up to date on certain vaccines.
Which ones? It depends; recommended vaccinations depend on factors like age, pregnancy, or medical conditions increase infection risks.
Which vaccines should adults get?
The CDC recommends that all adults ages 19 and older be vaccinated against COVID-19, the flu, and tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis (which are grouped into a single vaccine). Other recommendations depend on age: the chickenpox vaccine is only suggested for adults ages 19 to 49, while the shingles vaccine is only recommended for adults over 50.
There are nine recommended necessary vaccines for adults, targeting different infections:
- COVID-19: Contagious viral infection of the lungs, throat, or nose
- The flu (influenza): Contagious viral disease of the nose or throat, and sometimes lungs
- Chickenpox (varicella): Contagious viral disease, causing itchy rash, fever, and headache
- Hepatitis B: Contagious viral disease of the liver
- HPV: Contagious viral disease spread through sexual contact that can cause genital warts and some cancers
- MMR: Contagious viral infections measles, mumps, and rubella, causing symptoms like fever, rash, and cough
- Tdap or Td: Protects against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis, both bacterial and viral
- Pneumococcal: Bacterial infection of the ears, lungs, sinuses, or bloodstream
- Shingles: Caused by the chickenpox virus, and with symptoms such as severe rash and long-term nerve pain
How have flu vaccination rates changed over time?
Flu vaccination is more common with age. People 65 and older consistently have the highest rate.
During the 2023–2024 flu season, nearly seven in 10 adults ages 65 and older (an estimated 69.7%) got vaccinated. This group has had an average flu vaccination rate of 67.6% since 2009; the vaccination rate for all people older than 18 was 43.6%.
People in the 50 to 64 bracket had the second highest vaccination rates, and people 18 to 49 had the lowest.
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Vaccination rates peaked people 50+ during the 2020–2021 season. The CDC reported that a record number of vaccine doses (193.8 million) were distributed that season, although they don’t directly cite that as a reason for the peak.
Flu vaccination rates were highest for adults ages 18 to 49 during the 2019–2020 flu season. Vaccination coverage was higher for all age groups that year, and the CDC does not cite a reason for the increase.
The lowest vaccination rates for each age group came during the 2017–2018 flu season. The CDC noted that period as a high-severity flu season but did not attribute a reason for the drop.
Flu vaccine rates by state
The national adult flu vaccination rate during the most recent flu season was 44.9%, but state rates ranged from 32.6% (Mississippi) to 59.2% (Massachusetts). Washington, DC, had the highest flu vaccination rate nationwide at 60.4%.
Eight states had rates above 50%, all in the Northeast: Massachusetts (59.2%), Rhode Island (58.0%), Vermont (56.3%), Maryland (55.6%), Maine (54.8%), New Hampshire (54.6%), Connecticut (51.7%), and Virginia (50.0%).
Eleven states were at 39.9% or lower. All the remaining states fell between 40.0% and 49.9%.
Are Americans getting vaccinated against COVID-19?
In data collected from September 2024 through mid-February 2025, an estimated 23.1% of all adults got a COVID-19 booster. This is higher than the same period the year prior, when an estimated 20.3% of adults got vaccinated.
Booster rates also vary by state: the highest rates from 2023–2024 were in northern states, with the most-vaccinated states being Vermont at 39.5%, Minnesota at 35.1%, and Massachusetts at 34.7%. Washington, DC, had the highest vaccination rate nationwide again, at 42.7%.
Booster rates were lower in southern states, with the lowest vaccination rates of 2023–2024 in Mississippi (11.4%), Louisiana (13.5%), and Alabama (13.8%).
Are adults vaccinated against measles?
The CDC recommends MMR vaccines for everyone under age 68, but it doesn’t report on adult MMR vaccination rates.
And unlike many vaccines, MMR requirements are based on whether someone was born before or after 1957, so the age recommendation changes each year. When the MMR vaccine was introduced in 1957, nearly all people were infected with measles, mumps, and rubella as kids, making immunity to these viruses presumptive.
As of February 2025, the CDC measles outbreak report shows that adults ages 20 and older account for 18% of confirmed measles cases. Children under 5 account for 34%, and children ages 5–19 another 48%. Put another way, children under 19 accounted for 82% of cases.
The most recent children’s vaccination data shows that 93.1% of kids born in 2021 were vaccinated by the time they turned 3.
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Read data analyses written by the USAFacts team.
Page sources and methodology
All of the data on the page was sourced directly from government agencies. The analysis and final review was performed by USAFacts.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage and Intent for Vaccination, Adults 18 Years and Older, United States
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Influenza Vaccination Coverage for All Ages (6+ Months)
