Ask the Experts: COVID-19: Scheduling Vaccines

Results (10)

Periodically verify whether you are using the most current available documents by checking Immunize.org’s regularly updated Checklist of Current Versions of U.S. COVID-19 Vaccination Guidance and Clinic Support Tools: www.immunize.org/catg.d/p3130.pdf. This resource is updated as needed with the dates of the most currently available materials from CDC and FDA.

Information from CDC is generally updated first on the CDC web page: Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States: (www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/vaccine-considerations/index.html).

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

No. Simply administer the next dose that is currently recommended, using a vaccine from the same manufacturer, if feasible, even if previous doses in the series were an earlier formulation.

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

CDC guidance allows for doses given up to 4 days before the recommended interval to be counted as valid – such doses do not need to be repeated. However, people should not be routinely scheduled to receive a dose earlier than recommended. Schedulers should offer appointments beginning on the date of the recommended interval or later.

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

In this specific situation, a child age 6 months–23 months who received one 2024–2025 Formula Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dose should receive 2 doses of Spikevax (Moderna) vaccine to complete the initial series.

Refer to the schedule tables on the CDC website (www.cdc.gov/covid/hcp/vaccine-considerations/routine-guidance.html#cdc_clinical_guidance_recomm_key-table-1-2025–2026-covid-19-vaccination-schedule-november-4-2025) or on the Immunize.org standing orders template for children age 6 months through 11 years (www.immunize.org/wp-content/uploads/catg.d/p3140a.pdf) for specific dosing intervals.

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

Beginning with the 2025–2026 season, a single dose of 2025–2026 Formula Nuvaxovid adjuvanted protein COVID-19 vaccine is recommended for all recipients age 12 through 64 years who are not moderately or severely immunocompromised, regardless of their vaccination history. Those age 65 years or older are recommended to receive a second dose of any 2025–2026 Formula COVID-19 vaccine 6 months after the first 2025–2026 Formula dose (minimum interval 2 months if using Comirnaty, Spikevax, or Nuvaxovid; minimum interval 3 months if using mNexspike).

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

An asymptomatic person who is scheduled for COVID-19 vaccination and is exposed to SARS-CoV-2 virus may be vaccinated. COVID-19 vaccination after exposure is not recommended as post-exposure prophylaxis, so vaccination should not be expected to prevent illness caused by past exposure. A person who is currently sick with a respiratory virus should defer vaccination until at least the recovery from the acute illness, and consider additional measures to prevent infecting others, in accordance with current CDC guidance. Healthcare facilities may have specific policies in place to reduce the risk of spread of respiratory viruses to healthcare staff and other patients.

People who recently had SARS-CoV-2 infection and are due for a COVID-19 vaccine may consider delaying the dose by up to 3 months from symptom onset or positive test (if infection was asymptomatic). According to CDC, increasing the time between infection and vaccination may result in an improved immune response to vaccination. There is a low risk of reinfection in the weeks following an infection. A recipient’s individual risks for severe disease and current COVID-19 conditions in the community should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to delay vaccination up to 3 months after infection.

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

Routine administration of all age-appropriate doses of vaccines at the same visit, also known as coadministration, is acceptable for children, adolescents, and adults if there are no contraindications at the time of the healthcare visit. COVID-19 vaccine may also be coadministered with nirsevimab or clesrovimab (RSV preventive antibody for infants), given in different syringes and at different anatomical sites. COVID-19 vaccines may also be given at any interval before or after any other vaccination.

There are special considerations for orthopoxvirus vaccination. There is no required minimum interval between receiving a dose of any COVID-19 vaccine and an orthopoxvirus vaccine, either Jynneos or ACAM2000 vaccine (e.g., for mpox prevention), regardless of which vaccine is administered first. However, use of Jynneos vaccine should be prioritized over ACAM2000 when co-administering a COVID-19 vaccine and an orthopoxvirus vaccine.

People, particularly adolescent or young adult males, who are recommended to be vaccinated against both mpox and COVID-19 might consider waiting 4 weeks between vaccines. This is because of the observed risk for myocarditis and pericarditis after receipt of ACAM2000 orthopoxvirus vaccine and COVID-19 vaccines, and the hypothetical risk for myocarditis and pericarditis after Jynneos vaccine. However, if a patient’s risk for mpox or severe disease due to COVID-19 is increased, administration of mpox and COVID-19 vaccines should not be delayed.

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

Your patient may choose to receive the vaccines at the same visit or separately, without regard to the timing interval.

When multiple vaccines are administered at a single visit, administer each injection in a different syringe and at a different injection site. For adolescents and adults, the deltoid muscle may be used for more than one injection, though injection sites should be at least one inch apart. It is generally preferable to administer reactogenic vaccines such as Shingrix and COVID-19 vaccine in different arms. However, if the patient prefers both injections in the same deltoid, that is also acceptable.

Immunize.org has developed a one-page guide to administering multiple intramuscular vaccinations to an adult at one visit: www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2030.pdf.

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

The timing of CDC-recommended vaccination is unaffected by the receipt of COVID-19 monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma.

Last reviewed: November 16, 2025

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