Alberta Health Services
Health Information
Getting immunized saves lives. It helps protect you, your family, and the people around you from getting sick with diseases that vaccines can prevent.
As you get older, the protection that your childhood immunizations give you can wear off for some diseases. Getting another dose (called a booster) of a vaccine can give you more immunity so you have the best protection possible.
There are also diseases that are more serious in adults, even healthy adults. This is why you need certain vaccines as you get older.
There are many factors that affect which vaccines you may need as an adult. They include:
It's important to make sure your routine vaccines are up to date.
The Canadian National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends immunization schedules for adults, including adults who are pregnant or have medical conditions.
Some diseases that vaccines can prevent are more serious in older adults, because your immune system may not respond as well as you get older. This puts you at a greater risk for certain diseases, including:
If you are age 50 years or older, you are more likely to get shingles, and you’re at higher risk of other health problems from shingles.
If you are age 65 years or older, you are at higher risk of getting very sick from influenza, pneumococcal disease, and COVID-19.
If you are age 60 years or older and you live in a continuing care or supportive living facility, or you are age 75 years or older, you are at higher risk of getting very sick from RSV.
