Will I Be Able to Get the Coronavirus Vaccine at the Same Time as Other Vaccines?

Will I be able to get the coronavirus vaccine at the same time as other vaccines?

Hank Bernstein, MD: Hi, I'm Hank Bernstein, and I'm speaking today on behalf of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The question, “Can a COVID vaccine be given at the same time as other vaccines?” The answer, absolutely. Vaccines protect everyone against infectious diseases. And there's a long history of vaccines being thoroughly evaluated by both the FDA and the CDC. Indeed, before the COVID vaccines were authorized and recommended, all safety and efficacy data were closely evaluated by both of those groups.

Unfortunately, the pandemic has caused many children and teenagers, and adults for that matter, to be very behind on their routine vaccines. And when people need more than one vaccine and they may choose to wait and come back at a different time, they may miss appointments or not even come back for that much-needed vaccine. So, given the importance of these routine vaccines as well as the critical need for everyone to be vaccinated against the COVID-19, it's OK for a COVID-19 vaccine to be given with any of the routine vaccines that we all receive. This approach is recommended for anyone who's due for a vaccine, anyone who's behind in their vaccine, and especially for those that are at increased risk for diseases that the vaccine is intended to protect them against.

The benefits of the routine vaccines at the same time as the COVID-19 vaccine far outweigh any theoretical concerns. We want people to be properly protected when they are most at risk for the diseases the vaccines are protecting them against.